Classroom

CITY HALL — Parents of Providencia Elementary School students were up in arms at Thursday night’s school board meeting over a lack of air conditioning in classrooms. “Classroom temperatures have reached over 105 degrees in my daughter’s classroom,” parent Rachel Salinas said at the meeting. Last week’s triple-digit heat collided with the first week of school in Burbank, creating a stiflingly hot environment for students at the school, said parents, who along with Salinas held a news conference last week to air their frustrations.

Irma Lemus HILLSIDE DISTRICT -- Programming robotic arms to assemble products and learning how to work sophisticated machinery has been a three-week adventure for John Muir Middle School students. The site of the high-tech learning has been a 36-foot-long mobile technology laboratory that will hit the road in two weeks -- but not before exposing students to hands-on experience with computer-aided drafting and manufacturing. Provided by the nonprofit Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, based in Van Nuys, the lab is estimated to be worth $500,000, said Kenn Phillips, a spokesman with the alliance.

Gary Moskowitz NORTHWEST DISTRICT -- Educators and students at the Burbank Adult School will be relocating often this year, but it will all pay off when soundproofing installation at the school cuts out airport noise. Tim Buchanan, principal of the Adult School, said moving around between air-conditioned classrooms as construction proceeds at the school isn't so bad. "We had a plane go over so low the other day that all of the car alarms went off in the parking lot," Buchanan said.

Josh Goldstein CIVIC CENTER -- Peering down from his bench, Burbank Superior Court Commissioner Steven Lubell's job, sometimes, is to teach a lesson to someone who has broken the law. But Lubell also teaches a different sort of lesson in the courtroom. While not part of his mandated daily duties, Lubell believes introducing students to the courts and the legal system before they get into trouble is one of the most important lessons he can be a part of. "I want to take the fear factor away from someone who wears a black robe," Lubell said.

Leprechauns are tricky creatures, and the students at Thomas Edison Elementary know it. They can be found hiding out in the grass, in Ireland, and even in outer space, explained the students in Sandra Solis' kindergarten class. "They wear green so they can hide in the shamrocks," said 5-year-old Maximus Salvidor. "Because there are people that try and smoosh them." Maximus, along with his 8-year-old "big buddy" C.J. Erasme, spent Tuesday afternoon coming up with a more humane way to capture the crafty little people.

Irma Lemus HILLSIDE DISTRICT -- Finding alternatives to the drab, rectangular-shaped portable classrooms often found on schoolyards was a challenge nine Woodbury University students were eager to undertake. Utilizing movable chalkboards, intricately placed windows to enhance the lighting and solar powered roofs, the Woodbury architecture students came up with a variety of models designed to improve comfort, aesthetics and conserve energy. Funded by a $21,000 grant from Southern California Edison, the advanced students spent much of the semester coming up with fresh concepts for portable classrooms and the past couple of weeks building five wooden models.

Rosette Gonzales Many of the 17 teachers retiring from Burbank Unified School District this month have served for more than 25 years. They join many others who started teaching in the 1960s and 1970s who have left or are on the verge of leaving the occupation. Remaining is a newer generation of educators who have more career options available than their predecessors did. But district employees and teachers said that the next generation of teachers are just as committed to the profession and will probably retire in it. "Some new teachers are finding that they can make more money, even in education, but in other facets of education," said Tiffany Kaloustian, a six-year teacher who works at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School.

Burbank Unified officials have outlined plans to increase the minimum age for incoming kindergarten students while simultaneously launching a new program to serve those who don't make the modified cut-off date. The move will bring the district into compliance with new state legislation designed to eliminate younger children from the classroom who experts say sometimes can be unprepared. The Kindergarten Readiness Act, signed into law in 2010 by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, requires that all students entering kindergarten in 2014 must turn 5 by Sept.

Ryan Carter For the Police Department's field training officers, their patrol cars and city streets are the classroom, and that space has become even more crowded with several new recruits graduating from the police academy. The recruits and transfers from other agencies partner with the training officers in their fledgling months as they learn about the nuances of the patrol beat in Burbank. It is instruction that recruits can't get at the academy and skills that will help define the department's relationship with the city in the next 30 years, Capt.

BURBANK — In order to accommodate an enrollment increase at John Burroughs High School, the board of education on Thursday approved the purchase of three portable classrooms and one portable restroom building for the school's campus. The district first leased the three 24-by-40-foot classrooms in June and one restroom building as enrollment numbers increased, said Chuck Colgan, facilities compliance manager. The decision to buy the facilities, instead of sticking with the lease, came down to whether it was more financially feasible to lease or buy. Leasing the three classrooms would cost a total of about $22,000 a year, Jellison said.