New School Unveils Louis Lafortune Memorial Garden

Please spread the word and know that you are all invited to attend our Ribbon Cutting Celebration of the Lafortune Memorial Garden this Friday at 11am at New School Community Day School in Watsonville. 165 Harkins Slough Road. Contact Olga in the office 831.761.6140 or Bryan Love at 831.227.5982 for more information.

New School Unveils Louis Lafortune Memorial Garden

Ribbon Cutting Dedication to New School’s Longtime, Stalwart, Educator

Students and staff have been working hard since January of this year, aided by a multitude of Watsonville community partners, putting together the Louis Lafortune Memorial Garden on the New School campus. New School will be hosting a ribbon cutting celebration on their campus at 11am this Friday, June 2, to unveil the work they’ve done to honor the longtime, stalwart, sociology teacher who passed away unexpectedly, last spring.

New School’s Lead Teacher, Science Lead and now Master Gardener, Bryan Love, lists Watsonville’s Environmental Science Workshop, Plant Horizons, Sunrise Nurseries, K & D Landscaping and Vision Recycling as partners without whom this labor of love, for his good friend and mentor, Louis Lafortune, would never have gotten into the ground.

“Mr. Lafortune embodied the principles and ideals of New School. We hope to continually honor the example he set by maintaining this garden with the dedication, passion and idealism Mr. Lafortune brought to our school each day he was here.”

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More About New School

New School Community Day School was founded in 1994 to keep displaced high school students off the streets of Watsonville. Students typically come to New School with truancy issues, credit deficits, disciplinary records or with stipulations of their probation to attend. Today, New School serves 45 students, that are 100% Latino/Latina, 80% English Language Learners, 90% of whom come from families that qualify as low-income.

Most of our students are here for credit recovery. Prior to admission, they must acknowledge responsibility for their mistakes and commit to changing unproductive habits. Our goal is to help our youth correct behaviors so that they can become more productive at school, at home, at work, and in the community.

New School
https://new-pajaro-ca.schoolloop.com/

New School on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/New-School-Community-Day-School-395142827252718/


More About Community Day Schools

Community day schools are operated by school districts and county offices of education. Community day schools serve mandatory and other expelled students, students referred by a School Attendance Review Board, and other high-risk youths. The 360-minute minimum instructional day includes academic programs that provide challenging curriculum and individual attention to student learning modalities and abilities. Community day school programs also focus on the development of prosocial skills and student self-esteem and resiliency.

Community day schools are intended to have low student-teacher ratios. Students benefit from learning support services that include school counselors and psychologists, academic and vocational counselors, and pupil discipline personnel. Students also receive collaborative services from county offices of education, law enforcement, probation, and human services agency personnel who work with at-risk youth. Community day schools are supported by supplemental apportionment for community day school attendance, in addition to base revenue funding.

Community Day Schools
http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/eo/cd/


More Information on Louis LaFortune

“Louis was a teacher who was fiercely dedicated to justice. He was always supportive and involved in our community work and campaigns.” -Jenn Laskin

In Memory of Louis LaFortune, Compassionate Peace Activist
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2016/03/17/18784150.php