Back to School Next Week

Forget about easily finding a parking space in the business district or quickly navigating through town next week because classes begin again at two high schools, a middle school and nine private and public elementary schools’all located within a five-mile radius of the Village. All schools start on Wednesday morning, with the exception of Corpus Christi (which starts Tuesday) and Seven Arrows (which starts on Thursday). By Thursday, more than 8,000 students will be back in school’and that doesn’t include hundreds of students in 10 local preschools. Drivers are warned to allow extra time to account for near-gridlock conditions on Temescal Canyon Road and Sunset Boulevard near Temescal and Palisades Highs, which enroll a combine 2,885 students, many of whom are bused. Other congested areas include (l) Sunset and Allenford by Paul Revere Middle School (mornings and mid-afternoons alike), with an estimated 2,100 students, and (2) the six-block section bordered by Carey Street and Via de la Paz, where four elementary schools’Corpus Christi, Seven Arrows, Village School and Palisades Elementary’have a combined enrollment of about 1,100 students. Meanwhile, Chris Alexakis, a.k.a. Mr. Palisades, has waved good-bye to Palisades High, his alma mater, and is now a freshman at Cal State Channel Islands, an hour drive up the coast in Camarillo. ‘I will be majoring in communications with a minor in art,’ said Alexakis, a budding animator who will continue to fulfill his duties as Mr. Palisades, attending various Chamber of Commerce functions through year’s end. But as he prepared for the start of classes August 22, the teenager’s mind was on the grand new chapter in his life. ‘I look forward to attending college and living on campus,’ Alexakis said. ‘I can’t wait to meet people with similar and different interests. However, I am also terrified! I don’t know if I will be able to handle sharing a room with a complete stranger without a kitchen. I am still up for the challenge and experience. I just hope he is as clean as I am. If not, then cleaner!’