Ceremony Applauds School’s Rebirth

Learning has been back in session since September at Garden Grove Avenue Elementary School, but what would its reopening after 13 years mean without a group flag salute and a few choruses of “It’s a Small World”?

A ceremony Thursday marking the school’s rebirth included those staples, plus students’ musical tributes and speeches from school officials and political representatives.

“We’ve waited so long for this. Your school is beautiful!” Julie Korenstein, president of the Board of Education, told the 300-plus students and parents who filled the school’s shaded courtyard. “It’s up to each and every one of you to have pride in it and do your best to learn.”

Debbie Leidner, cluster administrator for the Birmingham/Cleveland/Reseda Complex, proudly pointed to “before and after” photographs showing the transformation from the dug-up asphalt and cracked walls of the past to the smooth, freshly painted present.

“We are a diverse city, and this school represents the best about L.A.,” she said. “The American Dream is about people of different backgrounds all recognizing a feeling of community.”

Garden Grove is the third shuttered Los Angeles Unified School District school to reopen, district officials said. More are expected to follow soon, as the demographic trends that sent enrollments falling in the 1980s have reversed, making every bit of school space precious.

The area served by Garden Grove is bounded roughly by Strathern Street to the north, Reseda Boulevard to the west, Sherman Way to the south and Hesperia Avenue to the east. After the closing of the school in June 1984, families sent their children to other elementary schools a couple of miles away.

“But the goal is to have neighborhood schools,” Leidner said. “We have had tremendous growth in this area and we wanted to bring the kids back where they belong.”