School bells ring this week for Laguna Beach kids, who will return to classrooms at both public and private campuses.
St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School, 3090 S. Coast Highway, will begin classes Tuesday.
New staff include Health Technician Jennifer McKinney and Administrative Assistant Eugene Santos; Pat Prerost returns as principal.
Much of the campus will be under construction during the school year; students will be able to use their normal classrooms for the time being but may be moved into portable classrooms later in the school year.
Vice Principal Christine Chriss noted that very few parents chose to pull their children from the school, which serves about 200 kindergarten through eighth-grade students, due to the construction.
For more information on the school, call (949) 494-7339 or visit www.stcatherinelaguna.com.
Laguna Beach Unified School District campuses will open for students on Thursday.
Laguna Beach High School, 625 Park Ave., begins the year with a new principal, Don Austin. Bob Billinger remains as vice principal.
Mike Roche also joins the staff as athletic director. New teachers include Amy Baxter, English; Randi Beckley, French; Emily Markussen, English; and Scott Wittkop, special education. Betsy Barger has transitioned to physical education and support teacher; Nance Morrissey is now guidance counselor and IB coordinator; and Jill Edwards is now athletic clerk.
The school, which enrolls about 1,100 students in grades nine through 12, experienced an increase of about 70 students this year to date.
For more information, call (949) 497-7750 or visit www.lagunabeachschools.org/LBHS.
Thurston Middle School, 2100 Park Ave., will have about 700 sixth- through eighth-grade students this year. Joanne Culverhouse, Ed.D., and Jennifer Salberg remain as principal and vice principal, respectively, and the school will introduce several new teachers this year: Joanna Badami, math; Randi Beckley, French; Amy Cochran, language arts; and Carl Nelson, social studies. The school may be contacted at (949) 497-7785 or www.lagunabeachschools.org/TMS.
El Morro Elementary School, 8681 N. Coast Highway, opens with principal Chris Duddy at the helm. The school may be reached at (949) 497-7780 or www.lagunabeachschools.org/EmEs.
Top of the World Elementary School, 21601 Tree Top Lane, begins the year with Principal Ron La Motte returning.
For more information, call (949) 497-7790 or www.lagunabeachschools.org/TowEs.
Anneliese’s School grade-school campuses, Manzanita and Willowbrook, will also begin the school year on Thursday.
The Aliso campus, 21542 Wesley Dr., is open year-round to preschool and kindergarten students. It has a new kindergarten teacher, Jane Posner, and teaches about 100 preschool students and 20 kindergartners. For more information, call (949) 499-5527.
The Manzanita campus, 758 Manzanita Dr., enrolls about 70 students from kindergarten through third grade. Its telephone number is (949) 494-7388.
The Willowbrook campus, 20062 Laguna Canyon Rd., serves about 400 preschool through sixth grade students. New teacher Tracy Garfinkel will teach a fifth- and sixth-grade combination class. The Willowbrook campus can be reached at (949) 497-8310.
For more information on any of Anneliese’s schools, visit www.anneliesesschools.com.
