Schools
Open House Set For New School At Palm Desert Church
Decision to expand the school to incorporate grades 1-5 follows a March announcement by neighboring St. Margaret's Episcopal Church that it would close parts of its school.
Officials of the new Academy of will hold an open house tonight at 6:30 p.m. following last month’s that the church will expand its educational services with the addition of grades 1 through 5.
“We’re inviting members of the community to stop by and learn more about our new school,” said the Rev. Doug Garrard, the church’s senior pastor. “We’ll have teachers, pastors and church leaders on hand to provide information and answer questions, followed by a brief program in the church’s Speck Center.”
The church’s decision is a welcome turn of events for some parents who had been scrambling to make arrangements for their children after neighboring St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church announced it would be closing its school for those grades at the end of the current term, according to Palm Desert attorney Roman Whittaker.
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Whittaker, who led an effort by parents to find an alternative school for their children, characterized the church’s move as a win-win for both parties.
“It was perfect timing for our group,” he said. “Long before we approached them about the possibility of adding grades 1 to 5 to their curriculum – which had been limited to preschool and kindergarten – it turned out the church had been considering expansion into elementary grades for quite some time.”
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Whittaker, whose son will be part of the church’s third grade class in the fall, said he hoped the open house would help spur enrollment during the expanded school’s first term.
“We’re a little late in the game, so we want to capitalize on the short time we have to get enrollment where we’d like to see it,” he said, adding that roughly half of the former St. Margaret’s parents had enrolled or committed to enroll their children in the new school. “But the fact is, this school fills a definite gap … and class sizes will be limited to roughly 16 students as opposed to up to 32 in some other local parochial schools.”
Church officials say the anticipated enrollment in the elementary grades is approximately 65 students in the newly expanded school. Classes will be held on the church campus, which is at 47-321 Highway 74.
For more information, contact the Palm Desert Community Presbyterian Church at (760) 346-8195.
