By Anne Hansen
Veggie Grill in Santa Monica was the hot spot last month for new principal of Paul Revere Middle School, Chris Perdigao, and Executive Director and Principal at Palisades High, Dr. Pamela Magee. The pair met with a few parents to enjoy a healthy lunch while discussing the upcoming challenges of the year ahead.
Veggie Grill CEO Greg Dollarhyde also happened to be dining that day and surprised the principals with carrot cake – on the house!
Deborah Elkins, community relations at three local schools and “Bagel Mom” who feeds donated bagels to school children, arranged for the principals to meet in a relaxed setting to help build a stronger alliance between the two schools.
Liz Kim, an active school volunteer, and myself, also a “Bagel Mom”, joined the principals in sharing ideas for creating a smoother transition from Paul Revere to Pali High.
“It is so important for the schools to be on the same page”, said Deborah Elkins, “because most of the kids from Paul Revere move on to Pali High. The stronger the bond between the schools, the smoother the transition.”
Deborah Elkins is a vegan mom of four children: Dane, Jaden, Cody, and Madison. Veggie Grill was, of course, her favorite choice for the meeting.
Liz Kim has a 4th grader, Nicole, at Kenter Canyon and an 8th grader, Noelle, at Paul Revere and actively volunteers at both schools. She and the others collaborated to come up with a new event where Paul Revere kids will visit Palisades High during the school year for an introduction day getting to know the teachers and campus.
The lunch meeting was a great success and we look forward to seeing even better relations between the schools in the future.
Anne Hansen is a parent of an 8th grader at Paul Revere and a 10th Grader at Pali.
