Back to School in Pacific Palisades

Elementary School Staff and Faculty Share Their Historic School Year Start

By JENNIKA INGRAM | Reporter 

With the 2020-21 academic year underway for charter schools in a virtual learning mode, both teachers and students alike are settling into this learning environment across Pacific Palisades.

Some teachers elected to return to campus and teach virtually from their classrooms.

“This week I felt like I was preparing for my first year of teaching,” Lisa Timmerman, a fifth-grade teacher at Marquez Charter Elementary School, shared with the Post. “I was nervous, excited and cautiously optimistic that everything would run smoothly.”

Timmerman explained that though her class had some tech issues, overall it went well.

“The students are learning the routines of virtual class and I am learning about them,” Timmerman added. “It will take time and some patience, but I feel confident that students will be engaged and learn.”

Paul Revere Charter Middle School Principal Tom Iannucci explained that this was “an opening like no other” he has experienced.

“Teachers, students and parents have been asked to do something that no other generation in our modern history have been asked to do: open school in a virtual world,” Iannucci said. “Everyone is in uncharted territory, we all need to be flexible and understanding of each other’s challenges over the next few weeks.”

Iannucci shared on the Paul Revere website that this year will present challenges and obstacles not normally faced by students, teachers and parents, but that “if we all remember to have patience and continue to be flexible, our year will seem much easier.”

As the start to school gets underway, instead of picking a seat in a classroom, students in the Palisades are looking at a screen to figure things out.

“Students are getting familiar with Zoom while getting to know their peers and teacher,” Timmerman said.

Palisades Charter Elementary School Principal Juliet Herman, who just began her first year at the helm of the school, explained that as principal, she didn’t know how important it would be for her to see the students on Zoom.

“Seeing everyone in their classroom made me feel like school had finally truly begun,” she shared.

Timmerman added that Marquez teachers are looking forward to returning to a traditional in-person schedule when milestones in Los Angeles County are reached, but will continue to work diligently to create a positive learning environment until then.

COVID-19 has not only impacted the start of the year: The lead up to the fall term was also atypical.

“It was a busy summer taking online development classes, preparing technology and coordinating materials to be distributed to families,” Timmerman explained. “The entire staff works tirelessly to make sure students would have a positive beginning to school experience.”

Local schools are also taking a look at how to host some beloved annual events, including Yee Haw Day at Pali Elementary and the annual Halloween festival at Marquez.

“The annual events that are most impacted by the current situation are the ones where we gather together,” Herman shared about Pali Elementary. “Yee Haw Day and our Annual Gala are our most significant fundraisers for the year. The fact that we cannot hold them as we have in the past means we will get very creative and find new ways to connect with each other and fundraise.”

Herman touched on one of the surprises of distance learning: “I miss hearing the sound of the bell.”

“Our Pali Bell signifies celebration—a signal to all in the neighborhood that Pali is happy and joyful,” Herman continued. “I promised students that as soon as we return we will ring the bell to let everyone know that the students are back on campus.”