"It Takes A Whole Community to Create A Village” - Civic, Foundation, And Education Leaders Mark Milestone in Construction of the Herb Alpert Educational Village
On November 4th, 2011, New Roads School, the New Visions Foundation, benefactors Herb Alpert and Lani Hall Alpert, supporters, and community leaders celebrated construction of the Performing Arts and Leadership Center that forms the centerpiece of the innovative Herb Alpert Educational Village
Santa Monica, California (PRWEB) November 04, 2011
Members of the New Roads School community, together with the New Visions Foundation, benefactor Herb Alpert, supporters, and education and community leaders, gathered this morning to celebrate completion of the steel framing for the Performing Arts and Leadership Center that forms the centerpiece of the innovative Herb Alpert Educational Village. Located at 3131 Olympic Boulevard (the current site of New Roads High School and Middle School, Santa Monica campus) and named for its founding benefactor, The Herb Alpert Educational Village represents a vision for education in the 21st century – a model of collaboration and shared resources dedicated to incubating and implementing educational reform for an evolving world.
Under a tent facing the Performing Arts and Leadership Center structure, guests including Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom and Malissa Shriver, Chair of the California Arts Council, listened to comments by David Bryan, President and Head of School at New Roads; Paul Cummins, Executive Director of New Visions; and guest of honor, Herb Alpert. “We’ve waited 10 years for this day”, said David Bryan. Paul Cummins pointed out, “Along the way, we've had more ups and downs than the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers.”
Herb Alpert spoke about the root of his philanthropic endeavors: “One of the reasons I started the Herb Alpert Foundation in 1982, I was thinking, ‘If I can do it, you can do it. What’s the big deal?’ You have some extra change? Try to help others. That’s been my whole pursuit.”
“Paul [Cummins] has a unique concept about education, and it’s not just about the academics, it’s about getting the most out of the students. To appreciate their differences, and I think that is one of the keys...I think one of the reasons that I’m so excited about education is that I never had that [ah-ha!] feeling in my entire experience.”
At the conclusion of the formal ceremony, guests were escorted by members of New Roads School’s student council onto the construction site and the newly-poured concrete slab floor for theater where they signed the steel beams framing the stage.
The Performing Arts and Leadership Center, Phase 1 of construction, is central to the vision of The Herb Alpert Educational Village. In addition to its 350-seat theater (acoustics engineered by Disney Hall acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota) the “green” facility will house the Anne and Jerry Moss Theater, the Capshaw-Spielberg Center for Educational Justice, classroom space for New Roads School, plus office and meeting space for the New Visions Foundation and other non-profit organizations dedicated to working creatively and collaboratively towards common goals in educational advancement.
About New Roads School and New Visions Foundation
New Roads School is a 501(c)(3) corporation and is a fully-accredited PreK-12 independent school serving over 600 students on campuses in Santa Monica, Malibu, and Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1995 as the result of a vision-driven collaboration between David Bryan, Head of School, and Paul Cummins, founder and Executive Director of the New Visions Foundation, New Roads is committed to providing quality college preparatory education to students representing the broad economic and cultural diversity of Greater Los Angeles. To back up that commitment, in each of its 17 years, New Roads has provided over 50% of its students with need-based financial aid.
The New Visions Foundation, a 501(c)(3) corporation based in Santa Monica, California, was founded by education pioneer Paul Cummins in 1995 to drive innovation and improvement in education. Since its founding, New Visions has been a creative force designing schools and targeted programs to enhance the education of underserved children in Los Angeles County.
About Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert was born in Los Angeles and grew up in a house filled with music. He began his philanthropy in 1982, and with his wife, singer Lani Hall, oversees the Herb Alpert Foundations's commitment to funding the arts and education programs, as well as programs that promote compassion and well-being. The foundation's significant commitments include the 2007 formation of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, devoted to the performance and study of music in all of its global diversity, as well as the Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts, the Herb Alpert Scholarships for Emerging Young Artists, and the PS Arts Lawndale Elementary School District Initiative, which has brought arts education to more than four thousand children annually for the past seven years. Herb Alpert has supported the visionary work of Paul Cummins for the past twenty years, including the founding of New Roads School, PS Arts, and the planning and development of the Herb Alpert Educational Village.
