Disappointed in the attacks on her school

I am PTA president of Manzanita Elementary School. I'm very proud to represent our parents, teachers and students. It's an honor I take very seriously.

When my daughter started school, we began our school career at Lang Ranch Elementary. We later moved to Newbury Park, and Manzanita is our assigned school.

As many of you in the community I looked at the API scores and wondered about it. Unlike many of you, I actually made an appointment with the principal and visited Manzanita.

What I found was a gem. A school with master teachers, teachers with qualifications that exceed the average, a friendly PTA and an individualized curriculum unlike anything I've ever seen in the district. I now have three children at Manzanita.

My now fifth-grader is the student body president, her API is 940+ and her reading lexile is that of a 12thgrader. My secondgrader is so advanced in math (that) the principal has put together a program where he moves up a grade during math time, which requires a lot of coordination and communication. My kindergartner thrives and loves to learn.

We're very happy at Manzanita.

It's hard for me to believe all the negative words that are being said about our school. The school described by the Maple parents doesn't exist in Manzanita, in fact, as DAC vice chair, I can attest that I haven't seen such a campus in our district.

Fear of closure doesn't excuse such words.

Pepperdine University chose a Title 1 school because that's where they found the role models they'd like their students to simulate. When the National Park Service decided to create a program to teach environmental sciences and preservation, it was Manzanita they chose.

Now this program is being used nationwide as a model of implementation. Manzanita provides excellent programs for its students, our parents are involved, and our teachers are priceless.

Before you deny the facts, please come and visit us, we promise you'll find engaged students, an English-only campus and a thriving learning environment. Lilly Dollenmayer Newbury Park