Some Pictures of our School

Here's a little look at some of the areas in our very non-traditional school space. The entire space looks like a multistory office building from the outside. From the inside you can see that about 75% of the space is an open warehouse. And then there are some traditional-looking rooms and office areas.

This is pretty much the first thing you see when you exit the lobby and enter the school proper. That graphic of a school is sort of like a hanging curtain -- but it has been changed to something more abstract and beautiful. (Can't remember exactly what it is, so let's just go with abstract and beautiful.)

This is the kindergarten interior. The kinder is somewhat separate from the rest of the school.

The 4th grade area.

Two views of the art room. The sides of this space have since been walled in with hanging graphics -- sort of like big vinyl curtains. Don't know what they're actually made of, but they're semi-translucent and so they define the space without stopping the light from flowing through.

The computer room. It also now has beautiful graphic walls.

Looking towards the computer room.

Today at School

Jonas Brothers surprises elementary school

Reading. Writing. Arithmetic. And then a little Jonas Brothers.

At least that was the routine for one Los Angeles area elementary school on Tuesday.

The pop band strolled out on a stage without an introduction as 513 children ages 5-11 were experiencing their first assembly at their new school.

Some kids shrieked in disbelief. A few jaws dropped. Girls whispered to each other. And some kids just seemed confused at all the fuss -- which included several news cameras.

One little girl remarked: "I love the Jonas Brothers. They're my favorite team."

The Jonas Brothers were there on behalf of one of their concert sponsors, OfficeMax, and that company's "A Day Made Better" campaign, which will supply 1,000 teachers with $1,000 worth of free school supplies each.

The campaign kicked off Tuesday with the assembly at Los Feliz Arts Charter School, which opened its new campus in a 47,000 square-foot warehouse last week.

The Jonas Brothers made a few off-the-cuff remarks about the importance of education, then presented the school with 16 giant orange boxes containing $25,000 worth of school supplies.

OfficeMax got the idea for the promotion when it learned that teachers are spending about $1,000 of their own money each year on school supplies. On Tuesday, about a dozen OfficeMax employees were on hand to help out, each sporting a T-shirt reading: "Working to erase teacher funded classrooms."

The Jonas Brothers didn't perform, but the school's dance teacher and a colleague did, and they nearly stole the show, with the children chanting the instructor's name. Not an easy task, given his moniker: Mr. Poznanter. He wowed the kids with an acrobatic dance that involved a giant metal hoop.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter after their appearance, the Jonas Brothers suggested another installment of the "Camp Rock" franchise could be in store for them, despite the title of the recent one, "Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam."

"That referred to the climactic moment," said Kevin Jonas, and does not indicate that Disney or the Jonas Brothers are calling it quits for "Camp Rock."

"We'll see," said Joe Jonas.

Asked about their interest in education, the brothers said it is one of their may charitable interests:

Nick Jonas works extensively to raise awareness for diabetes, for example, and he's co-chairing along with singer Jordin Sparks the National Youth Leadership Committee of the Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration. Joe Jonas is a celebrity spokesman for the Special Olympics, and a few months back Kevin Jonas won a record $250,000 on NBC's "Minute to Win it" and gave it to the family's charitable organization, Change for the Children Foundation.

Back to School

Check out Boylee. And his outfit!

2nd Grade!

Boylee is happy. Mostly because his best pal (Ugh!) is in the same class. I haven't been able to get too much more info out of him, except that they've already done dance, art and PE. Yay! And that the school lunch program is different this year (more flexible) and that he wants to eat it as much as possible. I'm letting him try it three days next week and then we'll see if he still likes it. Last year he begged and begged for it and then got thoroughly sick of it, but that was when you had to commit to the entire month.

And how is the new site? Well, from the outside it seems fine. Inside? I have no idea. Our open house was cancelled because we didn't have our occupancy permit yet, and parents have been thoroughly excluded from the school site. The only thing they want to see of us is our car pulling up to the carpool line in the morning, and pulling away from that line in the afternoon. I will never for the life of me understand this philosophy, the total exclusion of parents at the beginning of the school year. You can't walk your kid to class. You can't meet your kid's teacher. It's total bullshit and I have a major, major bone to pick with the principal. Allegedly she's retiring at the end of this year and that'll be just fine with me. Meanwhile, I have to wait for back to school night to meet Boylee's teacher, see his classroom, and see the rest of this new school site. That's not till the 4th week of school.

Less Than 24 Hours 'Til 2nd Grade!

This Picture Expresses my Relationship with my Son PERFECTLY.

Success!

Science Camp has ended and it was a grand success. Boylee loved it. For some reason, he felt quite shy at the beginning of the second and third weeks, but that faded and overall he loved it. He experienced all four topics they offered and tells me he wants to do all four topics (whatever they are) next year.

Another success? This:

In my continuing quest to use less plastic in Boylee's lunchbox, I tried out these mini Mason jars. They're half pint size. I wondered if he'd be able to deal with the lids -- the rim and the top separate -- but he was fine with it. They're glass, yes, but they're super sturdy. And much less expensive than other eco-friendly containers. And much easier to open and close than most other eco-friendly containers.