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March 10, 2004

Thanks, neighbor. I'm glad you're there

A white stucco building with a red tile roof in California Mission style sits on a hillside, perhaps 500 feet from my back fence.

It was there when I came to Pacifica over 40 years ago. I hope it's there, serene and secure, for another 40 years and well beyond.

Alma Heights Academy is one of two church-related schools in Pacifica. Good Shepherd Catholic is the other. Alma Heights was begun by the Pillar of Fire Church, a small Protestant group which devotes a large part of its substance and energy to educating children. The emphasis, as in the Catholic school system, is on first things first, forming the children's moral character without neglecting their basic education in "secular" subjects. I doubt they consider any subject really secular, though.

It takes a really concerned parent to send children to a place like Alma Heights. For one thing, he's already paying for his child's education in the form of taxes. The average family with kids at Good Shepherd or Alma Heights could find plenty of other places to put their money, time and effort.

Most religiously oriented schools in this country are on precarious footing from year to year.

They depend on the fickle public, fun raising events like Alma Heights semi-annual flea markets, the families of the children, and most of all, the continuing, generous sacrifices of a staff which thinks what they are accomplishing is worth the hard work and comparatively low pay. Ironically, those children who attend Alma Heights or Good Shepherd, by not attending public schools increase the available per capita money available for those who do.

It's like a "tax" on the less affluent school to benefit the one which is comparatively rich. That this should deserve an ironic laugh from the often hard-pressed Pacifica School District administrators does not detract from its truth.

In fact, dedication and low income of those employed by the church-related schools contrast with the rivalries and hassles, the demands, the pushing and shoving by the CTA and AFT to get more money out of the public school system.

Obviously the teacher in the church-related school has made a decision. He or she judges his own needs and wealth are secondary. The needs of the children under his or her care are primary. I admire that kind of dedication, as indeed I did for about half my elementary years, that half I spent being taught by nuns. Miss Plumb and Mrs. Middleton were good public school teachers, but it was Sister Mary Bernard and Sister Mary Peter whose personalities left the deepest impression on me.

I can testify you can't have better neighbors than the staff and students of Alma Heights Academy. The students are well-behaved. They certainly don't make nuisances of themselves. I sometimes forget for months that the school is so close by. The acreage is full of eucalyptus trees. It's a kind of privately owned park-forest in the midst of Linda Mar.

I am happy to see that some new, large buildings are under construction at the site of their secondary school on Linda Mar Blvd. Unfortunately they are using up some of the space formerly taken by the flea markets, but I assume it means the school is thriving.

I hope Pacifica's City Council finds some formal way to thank the Pillar of Fire for its decades of service and generosity to the people of Pacifica. Like Good Shepherd Catholic School, Alma Heights is one of Pacifica's major assets, assets of which any community could be proud. A congratulatory plaque would certainly be in order for this long-time community treasure.

Paul Azevedo's e mail address is Paul@thereactor.net Check The Reactor's website at www.thereactor.net.

 
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