Issue date: September 22, 1999
50 Terminal Avenue
Menlo Park
Phone: 327-5052
Lanita Pedican, principal
Grades: Kindergarten-8
Tuition: $1,560 a year, with scholarships available
Enrollment:165, open to students who live primarily in Menlo Park and East Palo Alto
Class size: Average class size is 16 to 18. School started September 7.
Focus: Founded and funded by the California Family Foundation in 1985, Beechwood focuses on preparing students to compete in the world of education, both nationally and internationally, on completion of eighth grade. It's a year-round school for students in grades K-3.
New principal: Lanita Pedican was hired as the new principal after a nationwide search. She comes from the Kansas City, Missouri, school district, where she taught deaf and hard-of-hearing students, served as the district's trouble-shooter for behavior disorders, and previously served as assistant principal for two elementary schools. She replaces Tim Willoughby.
New teachers: Beechwood welcomed new teachers Rebecca Attia, sixth grade; Jenny Axelman, reading resource specialist; Ann Martin, second grade; and interns Christina Waite, Isabelle Kang, Dlivya Narayanan and Imelda Unibe, science and physical education. Dave Laurence now is special projects coordinator, and also teaches eighth grade.
Programs: New this year is an elective program for seventh- and eighth-graders. Artists-in-residence teach dance, cartooning and photography; staff members teach art and music. Boys' and girls' soccer, basketball and volleyball are part of the athletic program.
Parent participation: Parents must commit to 20 hours a year of school service and 12 hours of parent education.
Beautification: Students, parents and teachers are working to brighten up the campus by installing planters, window boxes an inspirational banners.
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