West school briefs: Aquila Elementary gets new principal

Aquila Elementary School interim principal Clarence Pollock is there to stay after the school board recently appointed him to the permanent role.

Pollock, who has 20 years of experience in the district as a teacher and administrator, has served in the interim role since last April. That's when then-Principal Freida Bailey was placed on leave following parent complaints about her leadership.

Parents had said then that they were concerned about poor communication from the school and safety issues after a couple of bullying incidents weren't resolved or discussed with parents.

Pollock, who was assistant principal before serving in the interim role, was appointed to the permanent spot at the school board's Feb. 25 meeting.

The Whole Learning School is hosting an open house from 6:30-8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6.

Parents and students are invited to attend the event to learn more about the independent school for children with learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders and developmental delays.

The school is located at 9400 Cedar Lake Road, St. Louis Park. For more information, call 952-767-7559 or go to www.twls.org.

Author David Walsh will speak on parenting topics and his book, "Smart Parenting, Smarter Kids," next Tuesday, March 12.

For the past eight years, the Minnetonka School District has sponsored a community book read. This year's book is Walsh's.

His appearance is at 7 p.m. at the Arts Center on 7, 18285 Hwy. 7 in Minnetonka. Parents of children of all ages are invited to learn how brain science can help them raise bright, healthy kids.

The first 100 people in attendance at his evening presentation will receive a free copy of his book. For more information, go to www.min netonka.k12.mn.us.

The Hopkins school board recently approved offering Spanish classes in all Hopkins elementary schools next fall.

Classes will start with kindergarten and first grade and expand each year through sixth grade. It will cost the district $6 million to fund the program for the next 10 years.

The district has had a Chinese immersion program, XinXing Academy, at Eisenhower Elementary School since 2007.

This spring a new playground will go up for Eisenhower Elementary and Xin­Xing Academy students.

Most of the playground was funded by a $200,000 grant from Hennepin County, although Hopkins Public Schools, Eisenhower PTO and Bei Dou Xing donated funds as well.

The Eden Prairie High School math team finished its regular season in first-place for its division, continuing the winning streak begun in the 1999-2000 season. It now advances to the state competition next week.

Junior Yitz Deng and senior Joshua Fourre tied for the highest individual scores in their division.

Also scoring in the top 10 for individual scores were senior Jesse Loi, tied for fourth place; junior Sam Bradley, seventh place; and senior Gregory Nemecek, tied for eighth place. The team is coached by Mark Kingsbury.

Edina High School will host a musical instrument drive to provide instruments to kids who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford them.

The drive, organized by sophomore Daniel Sandberg along with Hope for the City and Rotary International, will provide a third of collected instruments to students locally. The rest of the instruments will be distributed to schools ­in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

To donate, drop off instruments before March 22 at Edina High School or at Hope for the City.

On March 23, Sandberg and a group of volunteers will spend the day at the Hope for the City warehouse, 7003 Oxford St. in St. Louis Park, sorting, cleaning and packing the instruments for shipment. Volunteer shifts are available from 10:30-noon or from 12:30-2 p.m.

Volunteers also can get guided tours of the "Pathways of Hope," a multisensory exhibit that illustrates specific challenges of poverty in six countries.

The exhibit was built by ImpactLives, in partnership with Hope for the City, Hope International and Opportunity International.