Claremont School News

From poignant to hilarious, the Claremont High School alumni gala ran the gamut. In celebration of the opening of the Don F. Fruechte Theater for the Performing Arts, the new high school theater played host to performances showcasing the talent of current and former students. From Shaelynn Parker’s (CHS, ’74) soulful rendition of  “If You […]

Nearly a year after Harvard Square closed up its kitchen, a second longtime Village shop has called it quits. On March 1, Claremont residents said goodbye to Raku, an eco-centric boutique whose paper goods and knickknacks have added character to Yale Avenue for the past 30 years. But as one Claremont niche shop closes, another […]

With Governor Jerry Brown proposing a new K-12 funding system, the future of the Baldy View Regional Occupational Program is uncertain. At the Thursday, March 7 meeting of the Claremont school board, board president and Baldy View ROP Commissioner Mary Caenepeel reported that employees of the local Joint Powers Authority—which provides career technical education (CTE) […]

There’s no getting around it. Johnathan Thomas, a local psychologist and the founder of a fast-growing local meditation group, is a bibliophile. He devours 3 books a week, furthering his spiritual development with books on Buddhism and occasionally indulging in the guilty pleasure of a supernatural romance.  As a student of Zen Buddhism, which teaches […]

If it had to happen to any production, this is the one. With the opening of the newly renovated Don Fruechte Theatre for Performing Arts delayed until March 22, the Claremont High School Theatre Department’s “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” opens tonight in the Multipurpose Room at Sycamore Elementary School. It’s a fitting […]

It was all good news when President Barack Obama appointed Pitzer College President Laura Skandera Trombley to the 12-member J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. In this prestigious position—for which she was sworn in at a February 11 ceremony in Washington, DC—she will not only be expected to meet quarterly to help establish policies for […]

If you have a little bit of talent and a lot of dedication, greatness is within your grasp. This was the message delivered by Lincoln Peirce, author of the popular Big Nate book series, when he stopped by Foothill Country Day School on February 8 to talk about his journey from doodling kid to comic […]

One evening each week, dozens of boys in cuffed jeans and white T-shirts and girls in poodle skirts and ponytails gathered in the El Roble gym to dance the Jitterbug, the Cha-Cha, the Twist and the Drake, set to a soundtrack of 1950s hits. Contrary to appearances, there was no time machine involved in this […]

After a long day serving as director of the Claremont United Methodist Preschool and then traveling to Chaffey or Citrus College to teach classes in child development, you might think Jeri Bollman would be eager to get away from the subject of kids. Instead, the bulk of her reading centers on how best to nurture […]

In June, a fresh face joined Claremont Unified School District, that of new Superintendent of Schools Jim Elsasser.  Though only 6 months into his post helming Claremont schools, Mr. Elsasser  (who most recently served as assistant superintendent of human resources for the Anaheim City School District) has made a good impression with school board members […]

It wasn’t a signal of the start of the holiday season  but instead a hallmark of excellence as Claremont After-School Programs (CLASP) joined 58 recipients in winning the state’s leading educational honor, the Golden Bell Award. The California School Boards Association presented the recognition—which takes the form of an actual ringing bell—to Teddie Warner, president […]

Paul Buch, cantor at Temple Beth Israel in Pomona, is “a very satisfied Amazon customer.” He regularly visits the online retailer to buy digital books, which he downloads onto his Kindle tablet. Recent purchases are evidence of his eclectic interests. Not surprisingly for a cantor—whose job is to oversee the musical aspects of temple services, […]

When the Claremont High School Marching Band lost its winning ways, band director Melanie Riley-Gonzalez knew she had to act. The band had grown just enough to edge the Wolfpack last year from the small-band group in its past competition circuit into the category for larger bands. Faced off against much larger schools—many with funding […]

There was cause for jubilation on Friday, November 9 at Oakmont Elementary School during a morning Celebration of Success. Not only did the school make a startling 86-point gain in its 2011 Academic Performance Index score (API), one of the largest leaps in the state of California. After a lot of hard work, Oakmont students […]

Sumner librarian Marleene Bazela is keenly aware of the magic of books, and she runs her library accordingly. Her reading nook is a wonderland of literary love, where kids stop by for the books and stay for the ambience. There are posters singing the praises of the written word, tables and stools where kids can […]

El Roble students got the holiday season, and their hearts, started this Wednesday with their annual Turkey Trot run.  It is the fourth year the local middle-schoolers hit the track to raise money for the physical education department. The event was created by physical education teacher Deborah Foster, who was looking for a way around […]