Laguna Beach welcomes back students, launches preschool program
A steady stream of vehicles made its way inland just south of Crystal Cove on Thursday morning, signaling that school was back in session at El Morro Elementary, as it was at all campuses within the Laguna Beach Unified School District.
District Supt. Jason Viloria and Principal Julie Hatchel were among those on hand to welcome students back on campus, opening doors and helping kids out of cars as they arrived.
A sound amplifier pumped music from the sidewalk as students walked up the hill. Some showed reluctance to leave their parents, while others screamed with delight at the sight of their friends.
El Morro will be home to multiple classes of newcomers. In addition to those entering transitional kindergarten, the district debuted its preschool program for students between the ages of 2.9 and 4. The program had 26 students enrolled on opening day.
“We are so excited to get it off the ground,” said Kim Johnson, the district’s director of early learning. “This has kind of been a year in the making, and we’ve created a positive team. We have two amazing preschool teachers with just a lot of energy and excitement to teach this age group.”
Johnson said parents and incoming students were invited to a meet-and-greet on Monday, providing an opportunity to see the classroom and meet their teachers.
The outdoor space around the preschool building included traditional blacktop activities such as hopscotch, a drawing and painting station, a children’s scale with buckets appearing out of each side of an apple tree and four uneven basketball hoops for the kids to sharpen their aim.
As the morning began, the space had collected a bundle of personal toys. The children had taken to balancing and weighing animal action figures inside the aforementioned buckets.
“We’re really working on that development of the whole child, so that they’re getting those readiness skills as they enter [transitional kindergarten and kindergarten],” Johnson added. “... We’re looking at social-emotional, we’re looking at behavioral, we’re looking at pre-academic skill sets.”
Kyle Schneider, a preschool parent, said introducing his kid to others likely to remain within the district was a consideration in signing up for the program.
“I think what was appealing for it is we’re in Laguna Beach School District ourselves, and so he’s going to be going here through high school,” Schneider said. “He was in a Montessori school before this, which we liked and enjoyed, but kids were always kind of coming and going.
“We figured putting him here as early as possible to get him a little more stability so that he can get to know the kids that he’s going to be with through high school was our biggest selling factor.”
Another popular figure on campus was Officer Danny Lopez, the second-year school resource officer. Lopez was generous with the compliments and the high-fives, and several of the kids slapped his hand enthusiastically as they walked past him.
Lopez, who forms half of the school resource officer team along with Officer Ashley Krotine, spoke to the importance of the program in making connections with youth.
“That’s an amazing impact to have, not just from the safety aspect,” Lopez said. “That’s always a bonus, obviously, but to really help make them feel comfortable talking to the uniformed person, whether it be a police officer, a firefighter, a paramedic. …
“It’s great to make that impact because if they ever find themselves in a pickle, or just need direction, or just need someone to talk to, especially as they get older into those teen years, having that rapport builds up with kids, and it gives them an outlet to be able to talk to somebody if they don’t feel comfortable talking to their peers, teachers or even their parents, at times.”
Laguna Beach High had an enrollment of 822 to begin the school year, district officials said. Thurston Middle School had 534, Top of the World Elementary came in at 540, and El Morro Elementary had 408 as of Thursday.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
