In the News

By Marian Sahakyan With pride and bittersweet tears, the graduating classes at Allan F. Daily High School and Verdugo Academy celebrated their successes, during a cozy, touching ceremony in an auditorium at the First United Methodist Church, located across the streets from the schools, Tuesday afternoon. For many of the 84 graduating students, the milestone was the result of years of survival and strength. With a smaller student-teacher ratio, both schools are designed to serve students in need of extra guidance. In many ways, the schools provide a second chance for students who don’t do well in a traditional school…

By Lila Seidman Shant Sahakian, executive director of the forthcoming Armenian American Museum, has a knack for turning his passions into professional achievements — intentionally or not. When Sahakian was a student at Toll Middle School, a friend asked him if he could design a website for his father’s small business. Sahakian, then 14 years old, was coding and designing websites as a hobby. It sounded like fun, and he said “yes.” When his friend asked him what his rate was, Sahakian was puzzled. “I’m looking at him, and I’m like, ‘What do you mean? I’m happy to do it…

By Andrew J. Campa At the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, Roosevelt Middle School will be rebranded and open its doors as Roosevelt Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, or STEAM, Academy Magnet. After years of talks and preparation, the Glendale Unified school board unanimously voted to make the change during its meeting on May 7. “We have had a wonderful faculty and staff at Roosevelt, committed to making sure our students are committed to the best,” Roosevelt principal Kyle Bruich said. “This project started with our former principal Mary Mason [now the district’s executive director of elementary education]….

By Andrew J. Campa A nationwide search that produced 21 candidates from nine states ultimately resulted in Glendale Unified school board members selecting someone from their own backyard. Vivian Ekchian, who has worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District for 34 years, was officially voted in 5-0 Tuesday as the first female and first Armenian American superintendent in the position’s 106-year history for a district that’s made up of 32 schools and 26,000 students. Ekchian, who has lived in Glendale for 20 years, was born in Armenia and will head a district with students of Armenian descent making up…

By Andrew J. Campa A nearly yearlong discussion about how to involve Glendale Unified students in the city’s annual Gay Pride Month festivities took the forms of art and literature featured at Crescenta Valley High School’s art gallery on Monday afternoon. Forty-five pieces of artwork — including sculptures, paintings, drawings, poetry, statements and mixed media — represented student voices from several of the district’s elementary, middle and high schools. The art showcases the district’s participation in “glendaleOUT,” defined by organizers as, “a multivenue LGBTQIA-based event in collaboration with local chapters of Gay Straight Alliance in the Glendale Unified School District.”…

By Andrew J. Campa Fiscal responsibility for students and parents during and after high school was the focus of a new financial literacy program offered by Glendale Unified at the Adult Recreation Center in Glendale late last month, with goals that range from saving for college to making future investments. “We’re very proud that we’ve been able to implement financial literacy curriculum for our students in the past year,” said Glendale Unified school board member Shant Sahakian. “As we’re on this journey, we wanted to make sure that we are also providing our parents and our community with access to…

By Mark Kellam Local resident and Glendale Unified school board member Shant Sahakian was recently named the first executive director of the new Armenian American Museum, according to a statement from the museum on Monday. “Mr. Sahakian brings strong leadership and community relations skills to the organization and will be an asset to the museum in his new leadership role,” said Berdj Karapetian, the museum’s executive chairman, in the statement. Sahakian first joined the Armenian American Museum project in 2014 as a member of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee. Since 2016, he has supported the museum’s community outreach efforts. Most…

Glendale Unified board member Shant Sahakian proposed a friendly amendment that cut the board’s pay raise from 5% to 1.5% for the upcoming year. The increase is in line with teacher raises. By Andrew J. Campa A desire for equity led Glendale Unified school board members to unanimously vote to reduce a scheduled pay raise for themselves to match increases agreed upon for the district’s teachers. The board voted, 5-0, for a friendly amendment that slashed its 5% allotted pay bump to 1.5% for the upcoming fiscal year, the same pay rate hike agreed upon by Glendale Unified and the…

By Andrew J. Campa The slow-moving saga over the future of Glendale Unified’s high school math curriculum was elongated another two weeks following a 5-0 vote by school board members Monday. Board members rejected the recommendation of Supt. Winfred Roberson Jr. and his district staff for the single adoption of the less-conventional College Preparatory Mathematics system, or CPM, three hours after dozens of members of the public spoke passionately for and against the curriculum. The move further exasperated months of gridlock as the district had hoped to secure a system for implementation over the next three years for integrated math…

By Alejandra Reyes-Velarde Glendale high schools rank among the nation’s best, according to a U.S. News & World Report released May 9. Crescenta Valley, Clark Magnet, Glendale and Hoover high schools all received a silver medal, which indicates its students have a high level of college readiness. Crescenta Valley High School ranked in the top 3%, Clark Magnet High in the top 4%, Hoover High in the top 10% and Glendale High in the top 12% of high schools nationally. U.S. News & World Report evaluated more than 20,500 public high schools in the country and identified which best serve…