FAMILIES AWAIT NEW CAMPUS; MOORPARK SCHOOL'S OPENING DELAYED.Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Daily News Staff Writer As soon as an unexpected summer cloud burst stopped last week, the children gathered for a school picnic at Arroyo Vista Community Center left their parents' sides and bolted from under a shelter to play. It was the last time most of these students would meet under the monkey bars monkey bars pl.n. A three-dimensional structure of poles and bars on which children can play, as in a playground; a jungle gym. for a very long time. Although they are all enrolled in Walnut Canyon School, Moorpark Unified School District's newest, they have been assigned to classrooms in four different district campuses while construction on their school is completed. Parents said that while they had some concerns about their children being taught under temporary conditions, any inconvenience is well worth it. Most of them transferred their children from other district schools to take advantage of programs not found elsewhere. The biggest draw was a structured after-school care program that will include lessons in the performing arts and music. ``I chose Walnut Canyon for its curriculum,'' said Nancy Serritalla, whose son Nicholas will be in the fourth grade this year. ``If he has to be there from 2:30 to 5:30 (p.m.), and if those hours are going to be as productive as they say they are going to be, it's worth it for me to be inconvenienced a bit.'' The campus was expected to be ready to house children at the start of the 1998-99 school year. But El Nino storms and a delay in installing a crucial traffic signal at a nearby corner stalled stall 1 n. 1. A compartment for one domestic animal in a barn or shed. 2. a. A booth, cubicle, or stand used by a vendor, as at a market. b. the opening until at least January. When district officials learned the school would not be ready on time, they scrambled scram·ble v. scram·bled, scram·bling, scram·bles v.intr. 1. To move or climb hurriedly, especially on the hands and knees. 2. to accommodate the 420 kindergarten kindergarten [Ger.,=garden of children], system of preschool education. Friedrich Froebel designed (1837) the kindergarten to provide an educational situation less formal than that of the elementary school but one in which children's creative play instincts would be through fifth-graders in the interim. They reviewed and revised transportation schedules, dispatched maintenance crews, and found space to give each of the classes a room. School Principal Teri Williams said the picnic - planned long before the weather turned sour - was a way to bring everyone together before they are separated. It also was a way to foster a good relationship with parents, who can be crucial to the success of a new school by fund-raising fund-raising, large-scale soliciting of voluntary contributions, especially in the United States. Fund-raising is widely undertaken by charitable organizations, educational institutions, and political groups to acquire sufficient funds to support their activities. with a Parent Teacher Association and being involved in program planning. ``You need to build a sense of community so that you have common goals,'' Williams said. ``We've got a strong group of parents who have committed to being on PTA PTA or parent-teacher association: see parent education. as well as school council. Even in planning this picnic, I've had a strong group of parents. They're very supportive, excited and happy.'' District officials said the campus is expected to be handed over to them by November, but they will not open it until Caltrans installs the signal light at Casey and Walnut Canyon roads to control traffic in the area. ``Ideally, the facility and signal light would have been ready by September, that was the game plan,'' said Frank DePasquale, the district's assistant superintendent Assistant Superintendent, or Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), was a rank used by police forces in the British Empire. It was usually the lowest rank that could be held by a European officer, most of whom joined the police at this rank. for student learning. ``But, unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world.'' Until the new school is ready, the kindergarten classes and the school's administration staff will work from Mountain Meadows Mountain Meadows, small valley in extreme SW Utah, where in 1857 a party of some 140 emigrants bound for California were massacred. It was a period when friction between Mormons and non-Mormons was acute, with Mormons bitterly resenting the coming of U.S. School. The first- and second-graders will attend Peach Hill School. Some of the third-graders will go to Arroyo West School, and other third-graders will join fourth- and fifth-graders at Flory School. Williams is expected to travel each day to several of the campuses and will be on call in case problems arise. DePasquale said the additional students on each campus would not have a great affect on the already overcrowded o·ver·crowd v. o·ver·crowd·ed, o·ver·crowd·ing, o·ver·crowds v.tr. To cause to be excessively crowded: a system of consolidation that only overcrowded the classrooms. host schools, since many of the students are those who are leaving for Walnut Canyon. Until they are all brought under the same roof, Williams said the children will have a chance to go on field trips and will attend plays together during their separation. For the most part, the students took the situation in stride Adv. 1. in stride - without losing equilibrium; "she took all his criticism in stride" in good spirits . At the picnic, they played at the park and were excited about meeting their new teachers. Many said they appreciated the stability the school was able to offer them as they wait to move into the permanent facility. ``I'm glad of the fact that when we start school at Flory, that they'll have the same teacher following you to the new school,'' said 8-year-old Nicholas. ``If we had different teachers, it might get a little confusing con·fuse v. con·fused, con·fus·ing, con·fus·es v.tr. 1. a. To cause to be unable to think with clarity or act with intelligence or understanding; throw off. b. .'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1) Walnut Canyon School Principal Teri Williams talks to students at a picnic in Moorpark. (2) Second-grade teacher Tammy Herzog gets to know one of her new students at a family picnic for Walnut Canyon School in Moorpark, which was set to open this month but faced construction delays. Michael Owen
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