By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Project EDUCATE’s vision is to transform hopelessness into purpose, desperation into motivation and feelings of defeat into those of empowerment. An LA-based nonprofit, Project EDUCATE aims to eliminate homelessness and reduce its dehumanizing effects by providing essential services ranging from health care and economic stimulants to personal and intellectual development. Project EDUCATE […]
Getting Schooled: Class is in session on the Westside
By Jessica Koslow Check out these five lesser-known facts about the local schools. Argo Navis Argo Navis considers the city of Los Angeles to be part of its student campus. The preschool through fifth-grade curriculum includes field trips: once a week for preschoolers and about two to three times a week for elementary kids. Students […]
Transforming Learning: Westside Neighborhood School planning new campus
By Bridgette M. Redman Playa Vista’s Westside Neighborhood School has witnessed its dreams come true — dreams that will transform the school and provide enriched learning experiences for its students. For 44 years, the private, independent, accredited school has been educating preschool through eighth-grade students in leased buildings, most recently in three campuses on Beethoven […]
Hitting a Milestone: Conservation leaders finish master’s studies
By Playa Vista Magazine Staff Having applied the tools of science, education and conservation to become leaders in conservation communities, graduate students in the Global Field Program and the Advanced Inquiry Program from Miami University’s Project Dragonfly finish their master’s studies. Daniel Horowitz of Venice has been applying the tools of science, education and conservation […]
Bettering the World: PDR’s Ali Patton studies conservation in Mongolia
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Ali Patton doesn’t take being a marine biologist lightly. The Playa del Rey resident is diversifying her educational pursuits by studying terrestrial and marine animals — all in the name of becoming a great scientist. She’s earning her master’s degree through Miami University and its Project Dragonfly, which allowed her to study […]
The Power of Experience: Playa Vista students create water battery
By Morgan Owen Jonathan Weisbart believes in hands-on learning. That is why he makes an effort to plan at least one project each year for his fifth-grade students at Playa Vista Elementary that fosters creativity and innovation while following state teaching standards. This year, Weisbart decided his students would build a water battery to store […]
Wetlands ‘friends’ teach children about the environment
By Morgan Owen Before the Westside was a city, it was a coastal wetland rich with plant and animal diversity. Today, one remnant of this ancient ecosystem remains, the Ballona Wetlands. Carolyn Everhart, the manager of environmental education at Friends of Ballona Wetlands, teaches children about this once-great landscape that defined Santa Monica Bay. Friends […]
Expanding Education
In 2018, Loyola Marymount University (LMU) opened a new Playa Vista Campus. Serving as a creative center for graduate and professional education, the new satellite location aimed to support the highly acclaimed Graduate School of Film and Television and College of Business Administration’s Master of Science in Business Analytics. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit soon afterward […]