Parents are invited to tour Topanga Elementary Charter School (TECS), a small, high-performing community school, on April 6th from 9 to 11 a.m. Adults only and registration is required (topanga-el@lausd.net ).
Under the state’s focus on universal early learning and expansion, children who turn five between September 2 and February 2 can enroll in the Transitional Kindergarten (TK) program for the 2022-2023 school year. This recently expanded birth date eligibility range is an exciting opportunity for parents and kids to experience the exceptional early years education program.
In addition to Transitional Kindergarten, enrollment is open for all grade levels from TK-5th grade.
TECS offers a rich, standards-based curriculum aligned with both Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. With a strong and active parent group, Topanga Enrichment Programs, we can offer science (including hikes in our upper campus), computer (and iPad) lessons, YMCA Physical Education classes, and art classes. Classroom aides are also funded by TEP. We have a full-time librarian, Ms. Rit Bessin, who teaches library classes and LAUSD Arts classes that rotate between dance, music, and theater. Our Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) parent-sponsored program includes opportunities for musical theater and visual arts.
We also have a garden stage with bench seating, a school garden with raised beds and container gardens for the upper grades. Special events, such as Beach Clean Up Day, the Coyote Fun-Run fundraiser, Scholastic Book Fairs, and Track and Field Day, encourage community building.
We welcome our Topanga children and enroll students from neighboring communities looking for a great school that offers enrichment programs as well as support in all academic areas.
About Topanga Elementary. There has been an elementary school on School Road in Topanga since the 1950s. When it was inaugurated in 1953, it was known as the “New School” because there had been an “Old School” in Topanga Canyon since the 1920s. That site is part of the building that is now Froggy’s at 1105 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd. and was originally built in 1925 as the canyon’s elementary schoolhouse.
Before that there was the “Little Red School House,” at Greenleaf Canyon and Topanga Road, educating canyon kids since way back to 1903.
In 1951, when the eight acres that was to become the site of the new Topanga Elementary School was purchased, about four acres of the land was preserved as a nature reserve and is now the backbone of the science program, an integral part of the Topanga Elementary Charter. There is a wonderful outdoor amphitheater above the upper playground and a formal Nature Trail that was built in the 1980s in collaboration with parents, classes and Eagle Scouts. (Courtesy topangahistoricalsociety)
Topanga Elementary Charter School is located at 22075 Topanga School Road, Topanga, CA 90290.
To register and for information: topanga-el@lausd.net; (310) 455-3711; topangaelementary.org.
