Pinecrest Schools, a private school founded 65 years ago in Van Nuys that blossomed into the largest family-held coeducational school system in the U.S., will be closing its last five campuses at the end of the school year, its president has announced.
In a letter addressed to parents, President and CEO Jeri Dye Lynch says Pinecrest has “exhausted both our emotional and financial reserves trying to maintain our school business.”
“Thus, it is with a heavy heart that I must now inform you that all Pinecrest Schools will be permanently closed at the end of the 2015/2016 school year,” Lynch writes in the letter first reported by the Thousand Oaks Acorn. “As a result, we will not be giving out school contracts for the upcoming school year or for our summer program.”
Lynch explained that escalating costs, coupled with charter schools and alternative learning centers, have led to the schools’ demise. She did not return calls Tuesday.
The nonsectarian Pinecrest Schools now serves thousands of students from preschool to eighth grade at campuses in Woodland Hills, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Simi Valley and Canyon Country in Santa Clarita. Eight other campuses that once taught students as far away as Lancaster have closed.
Valley civic leader and author Martin M. Cooper cited Pinecrest Schools and its Hollywood roots in his recently published “Read All About It!” post-war history of the Valley.
“Pinecrest has been an important part of the educational fabric of the Valley for many years,” said Cooper, who serves as president of the Boys & Girls Club of the West Valley. “It’s always sad when educational institution leaves us. It’s particularly so when one that’s so much a part of our community leaves us.”
The first Pinecrest campus was opened in 1951 as a boarding school in Van Nuys by Edna Mae Dye, a teacher who came to California from Iowa, according to Cooper and the Pinecrest website. The property was purchased from actor Bob Cummings.
For the first 10 years, it catered to the film industry, schooling and caring for the children of such entertainment industry figures as director Arch Oboler, while in Africa to shoot “Bwana Devil.” Others included Jack Webb, creator and star of TV’s “Dragnet,” and songwriter Bobby Troup, famous for his “Route 66.”
In 1954, Troup wrote “The Pinecrest School Song” — noting “bright tempo (in 2)(with a lift),” on the song sheet — an anthem still sung by students.
In the next half century, Dye’s sons, Don L. Dye and his brothers Robert and Philip, would go on to build what would become 14 Pinecrest campuses in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Don Dye, the school’s business manager who served on various philanthropic boards in the San Fernando Valley, died in 2006. Philip Dye, its academic director and an inspiration in the classroom, died in 2002.
The first private school in the region would also grow into the largest family-held coeducational school system in the United States, according to the school, with campuses in Northridge, Panorama City, Tarzana and Sherman Oaks, now closed. Pinecrest campuses later sprung up in Canyon Country, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and most recently, Moorpark.
In the 1970s, such private schools catered to many Valley families struggling to cope with a Los Angeles school district busing plan to integrate students.
One of those kids, David Becker, went to a rival private school after the district told his family he’d be bused from Van Nuys to downtown Los Angeles.
“There are legacies of people that went to that school,” said Becker, now a Realtor for Boutique Reality in Tarzana, of Pinecrest. “From an historical standpoint, it’s a loss, along the line of Busch Gardens. But there’s a whole new generation of private schools.
“As long as there are parents with deep pockets, there will always be good education.”
As recently as 2003, Pinecrest administrators said business was booming. As public schools boosted class sizes and laid off teachers during state budget cutbacks, Pinecrest expected a 10 percent to 12 percent jump in student enrollment.
“I’ve never seen such enrollment in my life,” Betty Monello, then campus director for the Pinecrest School in Woodland Hills, told the Daily News.
Three years ago, however, the original Pinecrest campus at Sherman Way and Hazeltine Avenue in Van Nuys was sold for the construction of 131 homes.
Then the 6-acre Northridge campus, which had operated since 1957 on what had originally been the Lasalle Jam and Jellies Farm, closed the following year after the land was bought by Granada Hills Charter High School.
In October 2010, the 16-year-old son of Lynch, the Pinecrest president, was killed by an unlicensed driver as he was jogging near his Notre Dame High School. Lynch, who founded a Conor Lynch Foundation in honor of her late son, was nominated for a Fernando Award, the Valley’s highest philanthropic honor.
It’s unclear how many Pinecrest teachers, students and staff will be affected by the pending closure. Seven years ago, Pinecrest Schools served over 6,000 students, according to its website.
A Pinecrest mom and alumna of the school said that the way the school notified parents about closing was “unsettling. Instead of a tear-filled meeting, parents were notified Monday by email — a school holiday — about the shuttering of the Woodland Hills campus.
“Some things just weren’t handled well,” said Heather Wexler of Woodland Hills, who attended the Pinecrest-Northridge campus in the late 1970s and whose 5-year-old son Cole now attends transitional kindergarten in Woodland Hills. “I thought he’d get the same kind of education, care and motherly love that I got when I went to school there.”
A receptionist at the school’s headquarters in Sherman Oaks said there wasn’t anyone available to comment. A woman at an intercom at the Pinecrest-Woodland Hills campus on Tuesday declined access to Campus Director Sarah L. Johnson. “We don’t have a comment at this time,” she said.
Next to an empty pick-up and dropoff parking lot at the campus, opened in 1961 on a former Hertz Rental Cars lot, was a mural of smiling cartoon kids that read, “Play Learn and Grow … Together.”
“I would like to thank all of the PWH families, alumni, and former staff members who have reached out to us to express your love and support for our teachers and staff,” Johnson posted on Facebook less than an hour later. “The announcement of the closure has not been easy for anyone involved, and I truly appreciate the kind words and well wishes we have received so far.
“We are a strong, resourceful and wonderful Pinecrest family,” she said. “We will come together to guide and share resources and information in the best interest of our children. The teachers, staff and I intend to make the rest of this school year meaningful and unforgettable; we are all in this together!”
Similar sentiments were posted by Pinecrest administrators in Thousand Oaks and Moorpark. “It’s been an amazing run for all of us!” said Kimberly Matthes of Pinecrest-Thousand Oaks.
Lynch, granddaughter of the school’s founder, says the Sherman Oaks-based school system hopes its sites will remain schools and “continue to educate children in the community and provide employment to teachers and staff.”
“We are continuing to negotiate with several strong educational organizations that have expressed interest in opening their own schools on Pinecrest properties,” she says in the letter reported by the Acorn.
“We want to do everything in our power to make this transition as smooth as possible,” she says. “Our administrative staff will be available for individual appointments to answer your questions about alternate schools and the transfer process.”
