Instant School : Angry Parents Pull Children From One Private Institution, Quickly Build Another

Although experts say it usually takes about three years to open a private school, a motivated group of Westside parents has done it in six months.

The Willows Community School, Culver City’s newest private school, had its first day of class last week in a converted 35,000-square-foot warehouse, complete with a steady downpour of sunshine from skylights and bright, white walls accented with colorful geometric shapes made from construction paper.

The 98 pupils, in preschool through fifth grade, are of varied backgrounds, although most are transfers from Temple Isaiah Day School in Rancho Park.

That’s where the motivation came in.

Earlier this year, a dispute over the Judaic curriculum arose between the Temple’s administration and Lisa Rosenstein, the school’s director, who is now principal at the Willows school.

The Temple administration decided to increase the hours of Judaic instruction from six hours to more than 10. Rosenstein protested that it would have been difficult to incorporate the additional hours without disrupting the school’s secular curriculum.

“When Isaiah changed their philosophy, a lot of parents left,” Rosenstein said. “They felt they were not being heard.”

Many of the teachers at the school, where Rosenstein was widely admired by parents and children alike, also supported her position on the issue.

“The problem was, the decision was made without consulting us,” said Danielle McGillicuddy, who teaches third grade and was one of five faculty--all holding state teaching credentials, which is not a requirement of private schools--who left Temple Isaiah for the Willows school.

Last February, Rosenstein’s contract at Temple Isaiah, where she had taught for eight years, was not renewed. Many outraged parents banded around Rosenstein and started meeting soon after to discuss starting a new, secular school.

Temple Isaiah had an enrollment of 200 students from preschool to fifth grade. Parents pulled nearly 100 children out of the school at the end of the school year.

“The Temple underestimated the passion of the parents,” said Ellen Cohen, a parent of two children who left the school, and the Temple as well. “(Temple officials) had no idea the Temple would blow up and disintegrate like this.”

Parents said Temple officials were unwilling to discuss the issue. “They could have done a lot to salvage this wonderful school,” Cohen said. Ultimately, she added, “it became a power struggle.”

Rabbi Robert T. Gan, senior rabbi at Temple Isaiah, defended the temple’s decision, saying a strong effort was made to consult parents before the curriculum change was made.

“The Temple wanted to enrich the Judaic curriculum,” Gan said. “We spent numerous hours talking to parents, both before the decision was made and after.”

Although he said he was “saddened that so many people decided to leave”--enrollment dropped to just below 100--he added that many parents have continued to send their children to the school. “We have a new day-school principal with 25 years of experience, and he is committed to the kind of program we want for our school,” Gan said.

“Our secular program is top-notch,” he said. “Our day school is moving forward. It was not decimated by the departure of the others.”

Many parents who departed enrolled their children in other temple or secular private schools, but the majority decided to develop their own school, with Rosenstein in tow.

The California Assn. of Independent Schools grants accreditation to new private schools after five years, provided they demonstrate fiscal and academic integrity.

“I didn’t think I could do this; I thought it would be too overwhelming,” Rosenstein said about starting the school.

“I told them it’s typically a three-year process” to find a site and build, said Jim Krause, president of Nonprofit Ventures, a firm that finances and constructs independent schools. Krause was hired last March by the Willows school parents committee as a consultant.

Unlike most other new private schools, which have to go through the process of finding and purchasing land and then building, the parents and faculty at the Willows school decided to rent an existing building on Higuera Street.

The parents committee relied on contributions and fund-raisers to get the money needed for improvements. Parents and other supporters held fund-raisers and received donations to raise nearly $80,000 during the first few weeks of the project and ultimately $400,000 before the opening of school. They found the site in April, after searching only a month. The school also received $50,000 for a library from the Edwin W. Pauley foundation, a philanthropic group that provides educational grants.

In addition to two skylights, more indoor sprinklers were added, as well as carpeting in the classrooms and new floor tiles.

Krause said Culver City officials helped guide the parents through the often time-consuming permit approval process.

“They understood the time constraints and gave us suggestions on how to get though the process in a timely fashion,” Krause said. City officials said that because the site had enough parking and school officials had performed a traffic study, they didn’t have to go through the typical conditional use permit process.

Completing all the work and opening a school within six months, Krause said, was a remarkable feat.

“The reason this happened is because there was a group of parents who really wanted to make something good happen,” Krause said. “This is an example of what people can do when they set a goal.”

Tuition at the new school is $6,950; Temple Isaiah’s is $5,600. About 60% of the students attended Temple Isaiah last year, and the rest come from other Westside schools. Rosenstein said she hopes to establish diversity at the school--the pupils are predominantly white--by offering scholarships.

Meanwhile, she said, she has been bolstered by the support from parents. “What was exhilarating was working with people of so many different talents who were so committed and dedicated to helping their children thrive,” Rosenstein said.

“The parents’ drive kept me going.”