Dear Altadena Eliot Arts Families,
As I sit here composing my final S'more to all of you, I am filled with gratitude for all I have been lucky enough to experience as I've watched your children blossom and grow up. To be able to work closely with young people is truly a gift I shall cherish for the rest of my life. Your children are so precious and adorable and precocious and hilarious and sweet and incredibly beautiful.
Thank you for embracing me as your PrinciPAL these 7ish years.
I know the transition to serving both sites was a bumpy one, but I am deeply heartened by the way our two communities came together, especially after the dystopian misery of the pandemic.
We are definitely stronger as one, or as sister schools, or as span schools or whatever PUSD decides is best.
What I know for sure is that now Eliot doesn't seem as scary and ominous as perhaps it once did and that many of our students and families see Eliot as an extension of their elementary experience; a happy, thriving, rigorous, arts conservatory where children are taught how to think, not what to think.
I know Dr. Hill will take great care of our PreK-5 campus as your new principal and that we will find an excellent middle school principal to continue the work we started together. Our campuses are in great shape to keep growing and thriving!
So, what happens next?
My last day will be this Friday, 10/13 and then on Monday, 10/16, retired, interim principal, Ms. Penny Fraumeni will be at Eliot Arts until just before Thanksgiving Break while PUSD hires a new principal. The search is on and interviews are scheduled for right after I leave. I believe you will have your new middle school principal when students return from Thanksgiving break and I imagine you will be introduced to him/her before Thanksgiving.
All of our amazing teachers and staff will continue to serve you and your children at the same level they always have as the baton is passed from me to Dr. Hill and Ms. Fraumeni. We've set the stage together and I look forward to watching our schools continue to thrive from the wings.
Don't miss some of the fun and important events coming up this week!
Stop by for cafe con Scheckel on Monday if you'd like to connect and hear more about future plans. Dr. Hill and Ms. Policky will be joining us.
Tuesday morning please join us for our middle school tour to see more of what's going on at Eliot Arts. Then on Tuesday afternoon we have lots of meetings happening. Please see below.
Wednesday, fifth graders from all across PUSD are invited to join us for a Shadow Day Experience! Students may be dropped off at 8:30 am in the main office. They will be treated to a tour, time with ASB students and in classrooms and arts spaces. Students are to be picked up at 11:00 am and returned back to their elementary campus. Please contact Rosa Magdaleno if your child plans to excuse their absence. Email Ms. Amy Manasarian at manasarian.armenui@pusd.us to RSVP.
Finally, on Thursday we have our elementary school tour at 9:00 am in the parent room.
Friday there is no school due to parent/teacher conferences at both sites. Parents please make sure you've signed up for a time with your child's teacher/s.
Please take PUSD's Housing Survey this month:
Coming Up this Week!
- Monday, 10/9 - Final Cafe con Scheckel @ 8:00 am in the Eliot Arts Libary
- Tuesday, 10/10 - Middle School Tour @ 8:30 am in the auditorium
- Tuesday, 10/10 - Elementary SSC @ 3:00 pm virtually, then joint ELAC meeting @ 5:00 pm and joint PTSA meeting @ 6:00 pm both ELAC and PTSA are in the Eliot Library
- Wednesday, 10/11 - Middle School Shadow Day Experience
- Thursday, 10/12 - Elementary Tour @ 9:00 am in the Parent Room
- Friday, 10/13 - Pupil Free Day for Parent/Teacher Conferences
It's been a great 7 years to be a Cougar and a Husky!
Yours in Service,
Dr. Scheckel, Principal
