My Town Monday: Monarch School, San Diego

Guess what? I'm off in Missouri having a big adventure! Yes, yes, I have school visits today and Tuesday. So....my delightful critique partner, Kathy Krevat, is doing this week's My Town Monday post from San Diego.

Take it away, Kathy!!!


Monarch serves more than 600 homeless and at-risk children every year.

Monarch School is a very special school with a unique mission. It serves the homeless and at-risk students of San Diego County, providing an environment where these students can improve their lives through education.

The average age of a homeless person is less than 9 years old. With more than 2,200 homeless children in San Diego, the need to serve them is critical. Monarch serves more than 600 children every year, 4-18 years old in grades K-12.

Monarch is a collaboration of the County and the Community – the San Diego County Office of Education and the nonprofit Monarch School Project, a 501(c)(3). The county provides teachers and an accredited education and the community provides healthcare, clothes and food along with the support and enrichment programs that give these students a chance to break their cycle of poverty and homelessness.

Monarch’s proud 2009 graduates are all continuing their education.

One of the latest and greatest achievements for Monarch School is the opening of a new library enabling their students to check out books for the first time in the school’s twenty-one year history. Stacy Bermingham, school reading specialist, noted that without an address, students can’t get a library card, so it’s critical to have a library on campus. Books are still needed. Donations of Barnes and Noble or other bookstore cards can be sent to Stacy Marshall, Monarch School, 808 West Cedar Street, San Diego, CA 92101. Be sure to include your name and address. If you have books you'd like to donate, email Lety Direen, Monarch School Librarian.

My daughters belong to a wonderful community service organization called J*Company’s Artists Taking Action which enables high school students to use their artistic skills to help their community. They are coordinating The Comedy Improv Show to raise funds benefiting the Monarch School. Improv teams from Canyon Crest Academy and La Costa Canyon High School will provide a hilarious, family-friendly improvisational comedy show where the two teams will compete for your laughs. The show will enable Monarch School students to attend J*Company youth theater shows.

If you like Whose Line Is It Anyway?, you’ll LOVE the Comedy Improv Show!

What: Improv comedy show (family entertainment) to benefit Monarch School
When: Saturday, October 9th at 8:00 p.m.
Where: David & Dorothea Garfield Theatre at the Lawrence Family JCC, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS, 4126 Executive Drive, UTC/La Jolla, CA 92037. Take highway 5 south to Genesee and turn south; the JCC will be on your right in 1.3 miles.
How much: $10

Thanks, Kathy! Please check out the links to the other My Town Monday posts on the official My Town Monday blog.