Clairbourn School News

Being located in Southern California has its advantages! For Clairbourn school it means enjoying a warm climate perfect for swimming. The luxury of an on-campus pool, for use by our Kindergarten through 8th grade students, allows us to help kids be water-safe by training them early to be strong, confident swimmers.

Clairbourn School has enjoyed several pools on its campus since the 1930s. Along the western perimeter, there used to be an amazing movie-star-style pool, complete with a center fountain, located in the spot where the 1st-3rd Randall Hall classrooms now stand. This pool was removed in the late 1960s to make room for the Gardner Building which existed from 1969 to 2000.

A second pool was acquired in 1958 when Clairbourn expanded the campus grounds eastward to the Thompson Estate property. This pool, located directly across from the Manor House, has been used for P.E. classes and summer programs ever since.

At one time, it even included a tall slide, won as a prize by a teacher who appeared on a game show. Insurance regulations eventually became stricter and the school wasn’t allowed to replace the slide. Sadly it was removed when the chute wore out.

In the 1980s, the pool’s life was extended by giving it a fiberglass lining, but by the late 2000s, the swimming pool was showing its age. The plumbing lines were congested, there was leakage from earthquake cracks, the pump and filters were old, the pool required special cleaning, and there were a host of cosmetic problems. The question of whether or not to keep the pool was weighed, but after due consideration, the importance of serving our students and families with a swimming program won the day!

In the Fall of 2014, Clairbourn decided to completely renew this 80,000 plus gallon pool.

It required draining all the water, jack-hammering the pool down to its undermost layer, repairing all the structural cracks, replacing the electric lines and pool light, splitting the drain, replacing the plumbing lines, coping, concrete decks, and replacing all the heating, filtering, and pump equipment. A new life-guard perch, special ladders, swimming lanes, and depth markers were also added. The school also switched to a saline-based system which means less irritating chlorine needs to be added to the water each week.

The student body watched the construction with excitement during the fall and winter months, waiting for the weather to warm up so they could dive in and enjoy this new jewel of the campus. But, the first ones to enjoy the pool turned out to be a pair of Canada geese! Right after Spring Break, a goose nest was discovered next to the pool. Because migrating birds and their nests are protected by

Federal law, the school had to make accommodations to ensure the birds were not disturbed by swimming students until the eggs hatch. Both the mother and father goose have been frequently seen taking breaks from their guard and nest-sitting duties to swim in the heated pool.

As the spring and summer months approach, our students are eagerly anticipating their chance to swim in the pool for P.E. and play water games in the Summer Advantage Program, and who knows, they just might be joined by some adorable teenage-goslings!

Clairbourn School Provides Private School Education for Preschool, Kindergarten, Elementary School, and Middle School Grades | Serving Families in the Pasadena, California, Area and Surrounding Cities (K-12 Private Schools) | Clairbourn is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. Click here to request information.

Clairbourn school has an unusual addition to its student body this year, a pair of Canada geese! Over the spring break when the campus was completely quiet, a pair of migrating birds took note of the school’s newly refurbished swimming pool and athletic field. They clearly thought this beautiful, quite, park-like campus was an ideal place to build a nest. So they landed and laid some eggs adjacent to the pool.

A few days later, classes were back in full swing and the birds were quickly discovered by our maintenance staff. Since Federal law protects migratory birds and their eggs, Clairbourn took swift action to rope off the sensitive nesting area and made sure to keep students clear of the very-protective papa goose. The school decided to use this occasion as a teaching moment to help students learn about migration, the nature and habits of geese, the incubation period of their eggs, and the importance of protecting creatures in our environment.

There seem to be at least four eggs in the nest and the mother goose dutifully tends the nest night and day- only occasionally taking breaks to eat or swim in the pool. The father goose spends most of his time out on the athletic field, mainly to ward off other geese who might want to nest in the same area. Both geese are awake for most of the night to watch for predators.

Each morning at Chapel, Headmaster Dr. Nafie, gives students an update on the activities of the geese since he has a front row seat from his headmaster’s residence and he also watches them on the school’s goose-cam. One such update inspired a parent to contact Channel 4 news, and they picked up the story. A film crew was soon on its way to film the geese and interview our students. View the news clip here.

More footage of Clairbourn’s Canadian Geese can be found by clicking the following links: Canada Geese Goslings Tour the Clairbourn Grounds 1, Canada Geese Goslings Tour the Clairbourn Grounds 2

Teachers, parents, and staff alike have been impressed by the respectful and accommodating attitudes of the student body towards the geese, especially since they’ve had to postpone swimming as the weather has warmed up.

Clairbourn School Provides Private School Education for Preschool, Kindergarten, Elementary School, and Middle School Grades | Serving Families in the Pasadena, California, Area and Surrounding Cities (K-12 Private Schools) | Clairbourn is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. Click here to request information.

Clairbourn’s own Coach John Paciorek is the subject of a new book called “Perfect: The Rise and Fall of John Paciorek, Baseball’s Greatest One-Game Wonder” by Steven K. Wagner.

Book reviews on Amazon.com are very positive and the book has a five star rating.

“A great book that captures the essence of baseball and every boy’s dream: to play in the major leagues. The story of John Paciorek is the stuff of legends.”
—Gary Adams, former UCLA baseball coach

Continue reading “Perfect: The Rise and Fall of John Paciorek, Baseball’s Greatest One-Game Wonder”

The following post is written by Clairbourn seventh-grader Marina Rodriguez-Garcia who discovered a love and talent for photography in French Class. A gallery of her work is included at the end of this post.

Continue reading “Discovering the Photographer Within: Marina Rodriguez-Garcia”

Rose Princess Jamie Kwong visited Clairbourn today as the guest of second-grader Christian Marks to speak at his Show and Tell event.

After greeting the class, Jamie passed out little rose stickers to each child and explained her duties for the next year. Between now and New Year’s Day, when she gets to ride on the float down the parade route, she has to attend about 100 events in the Pasadena community.

As an ambassador of the Tournament of Roses, its her job to meet people, answer questions about the parade, explain what goes into making a float, and share what it is like to be a Rose Princess. She’s also going to be in a fashion show walking the catwalk at Macy’s in December.

As a senior in high school, when Jamie became eligible to try out for the Royal Court, she knew she had to be a part of the competition–and the public speaking skills she gained from presenting at Clairbourn’s Chapel really helped her to stand out with the judges. After being chosen, she received additional public speaking and etiquette training from the Tournament of Roses to help prepare her for her role. She also had to get a makeover where they cut off a lot of her long hair. A Rose Princess only reigns for one year, and after the big parade, the princesses and the queen visit a lot of libraries to read to children.

When a student asked her if she likes her job, she replied, “I love my job…but it’s not really a job…it is something I get to do. It keeps me really busy, I frequently have to leave school early, and I do get pretty sleepy by the end of the evening. But, I love that there are six other girls on the court, and I like making new friends.”

The students were thrilled to meet her, and Jamie explained she was equally thrilled because it was in second grade, at Clairbourn, that she became inspired by a Rose Princess who visited her class. Before leaving, she encouraged the girls to consider entering the competition themselves someday, and hoped everyone would wake up early on New Year’s day to watch the parade.

Clairbourn School Provides Private School Education for Preschool, Kindergarten, Elementary School, and Middle School Grades | Serving Families in the Pasadena, California, Area and Surrounding Cities (K-12 Private Schools) | Clairbourn is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. Click here to request information.

The Pasadena Tournament of Roses announced this morning that Jamie Kwong, from Clairbourn’s Class of 2010 is one of seven official final members of the 2014 Royal Court. From this group of seven princesses, a Rose Queen will be selected and announced on October 24.

Jamie competed against 1,000 other young women, from the area, and was selected for her public speaking ability, academic standing, community activity, school participation, and poise.

As a member of the court, she will act as an ambassador for the Tournament attending media and community events for the next year.

Clairbourn School Provides Private School Education for Preschool, Kindergarten, Elementary School, and Middle School Grades | Serving Families in the Pasadena, California, Area and Surrounding Cities (K-12 Private Schools) | Clairbourn is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. Click here to request information.