Valley school

Valley school may change name

By Jennifer Henderson
Lagunitas School District Trustee Brian Dodd on Tuesday asked other members of the board to consider changing the name of the district from Lagunitas School District to San Geronimo Valley School District.

Dodd said the change would reflect the fact that the district serves the entire San Geronimo Valley, not just the town of Lagunitas.

The trustee pointed out that changing the name could be a simple process. If 15 district voters petition the county, the Board of Supervisors -- after a month's review -- could merely adopt or deny the change.

However, Dodd said, the school district probably should first make sure a majority of district residents support the name change.

He added that the ramifications of the name change would be limited; the administration will need to change the school's letterhead and the school sign.

"I think it is a terrific idea myself," responded Trustee Laurie Klein.

The school board agreed to conduct a survey to gauge the community's reaction. Superintendent Larry Enos suggested that a petition could be attached to the next school newsletter. Dave Cort, manager of the San Geronimo Valley Cultural Center, noted that the survey should include the current students, and Supt. Enos added that the survey should also include alumni.

In other school news:

Jeanne Marlowe was sworn in as a trustee, filling a seat vacated by Mike Miller, who moved to Sacramento at the beginning of the school year. "I'm very excited to be serving on the school board," said Marlowe, the mother of two boys both enrolled in the Open Classroom program. "It seems like a dynamic time for the district."

Marlowe, who has lived in the San Geronimo Valley for two years, moved to the Valley from Inverness, where she was involved in a parent co-operative preschool. Marlowe previously worked for years as a child-assault-prevention counselor in Alameda. Her term will last through 1997.

Darci Hammond, the new principal at San Geronimo School, told trustees about her first six weeks on the job. "For the first couple of weeks," she said, "I have been trying to get to know the students, staff, and people from the community in a really unobtrusive way, by being in the classroom and going on field trips. I've been able to spend one to two hours a day in the classrooms."

This is Hammond's first stint as a principal. Previously, she worked as a middle school teacher in Lake County's Konocti School District. Since moving to the Lagunitas School District, Hammond said she has been "surprised by the students' impressive level of being able to deal with issues, and their ability to talk through problems."

"It's been incredible to have her here," said Cort, whose son Daley is in the Open program.

The Child Care Task Force submitted a proposal to the board to convert a middle school classroom, Room 15, and one of the portable classrooms to dual-use facilities for the after-school childcare program. Transforming the classrooms involves installing shelves, bulletin boards, and rugs, as well as purchasing cabinets and other equipment for the portable. The two middle school teachers who use the classrooms, Alan Charne and Lisa Soll, have already agreed to the idea.

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