Carpenter Avenue Elementary Charter School celebrates 100th anniversary

LOS ANGELES - It's a celebration in Studio City at the Carpenter Avenue Elementary Charter School as this school year marks the 100th anniversary.

It's a year of special events and things like a large hallway collage crafted by former Carpenter-student-turned-parent Joe Forte. It shows teachers and principals going back to 1924 when Eugene Farnham was the first principal.

Joe Martinez is the Principal now. He led the morning outdoor pep rally with some fun trivia, like asking contestants who was the President of the United States when the school opened.

"It was President Calvin Coolidge," he said.

He is proud of the school surrounded by a white picket fence.

On how this building was able to last a century, Martinez says, "This is the way they built schools. We've got the great front entrance to the school. This is the original building."

Martinez explains the school is semi-autonomous.

"We still follow the District calendar, teachers belong to the union but we have some additional flexibilities," he said.

The school has 870 students and 100 teachers and staff. There's even a teacher that's been here for 36 years. Her name is Stacy Freiberg. She's even teaching a student whose mom was in her 2nd-grade class about three decades ago.

Besides reading, writing and math, they teach things like restorative justice, taught by Erica Easley. It's about building community.

So, maybe that's why we heard kids like Nami Collins says, say they really like this school even though it's so old.

Despite that there are students who told us it doesn't look old, but one told us 100 years ago they probably didn't have cool stuff, like the synthetic playground surface they have or iPads.

Celebrations will continue throughout the school year. Happy 100th, Carpenter!