What’s Up With... A New Year of Learning Begins at

BY C. JAYDEN SMITH

The 2023-2024 school year kicked off all around Capistrano Unified School District on Tuesday morning, Aug. 15, including at San Clemente’s Marblehead Elementary School.

Principal Jamie Goodwyn described the first day of each new year as a chance to “jump-start” the upcoming months and a time for students to see their friends after a long summer break.

Getting started on the right foot is “extremely important,” she added.

“Our teachers work hard to set expectations and make sure (the students) have a warm and welcoming environment this year,” said Goodwyn.

From Day 1, the staff is implementing CUSD’s new Multi-Tiered System of Support Well-Being Plan, also known as CUSD Cares.

The initiative aims to support

BY C. JAYDEN SMITH

After a recent reshuffling of ownership, the new officials spearheading the stalled Miramar Event Center project in North Beach are looking to resume construction soon, according to city officials.

Economic Development Director

Jonathan Lightfoot told San Clemente

Times on Aug. 10 that the city last week received resubmitted plans for the project, which will turn the historic Miramar Theatre and bowling alley into an event center and food hall, respectively. Staff had previously approved permits for both structures, but the project’s previous contractor reportedly never paid the permit fee that would have allowed construction to proceed, according to Lightfoot.

While Lightfoot noted he hadn’t had a chance to formally review the resubmitted plans as of Friday, Aug. 11, he explained that officials don’t expect to see any major changes to the proposal.

“We will be reviewing these right students with various activities and actions through three tiers of emphasis. Tier I provides “universal instruction and support” to all students with daily “mindfulness moments” and weekly check-ins. Tier II focuses on targeted interventions, and Tier III centers on intensive interventions for the smallest number of students.

“The MTSS Well-Being Plan will support all students’ and staff’s well-being and have a positive impact on student outcomes by intentionally developing and strengthening ‘connections, a sense of school community, and regular opportunities for celebration,’ ” a district presentation read.

Goodwyn said she had already spent time in a first-grade classroom where the students discussed their feelings about the first day.

“Our students really need to work away—to make sure that they are both consistent with the approved entitlements/ designs and also with the current version of the Building Code (which has been updated since their prior submittal),”

Lightfoot wrote in an email to SC Times . “We are anxious to get this site back into an active construction zone.”

Lightfoot added that the property’s ownership has consolidated recently, and the team completed a refinancing of their construction loan near the end of June.

Miramar Food Hall Real Estate LLC has contracted with Mark Williams of MWC Commercial General Contractors to oversee the project management, including working with the architect on resubmittal of updated project plans, hiring an engineering firm to provide a structural analysis of the existing construction, and manage crews that will through those emotions so that they can focus on their learning,” she said. “Setting those expectations and the behavior so that they can learn and focus on what they need to know is just extremely important.”

Looking to the rest of the school year, Marblehead’s PTA has planned a “wonderful” schedule of events, according to Goodwyn.

On Sept. 7, the school will have a “Hispanic Heritage Fiesta” to commemorate National Hispanic Heritage

Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

“We’re hoping to get a mariachi band and folklorico dancers, and really blend the cultures of our student population,” Goodwyn said. “We’re going to combine that with lessons and art lessons during the school day.” portion to a solid roof to accommodate weddings, and to host wedding ceremonies in the food hall courtyard, among other appeals. resume work on the property.

More information about Marblehead Elementary, an Environmental Studies Academy with a transitional kindergarten program, can be found at marblehead.capousd.org.

The DRSC expressed concerns that such changes would contribute to a loud intersection at Avenida Pico and El Camino Real, that other roof vents at the same height would emit odors, and that an additional courtyard use would disrupt food hall patrons’ experiences.

“The Subcommittee concluded that the project as drafted does not maintain the ethos of the 2017 entitlements and that the proposed modifications would lessen the quality of the approved project,” according to the meeting minutes.

The contractor, Mark Williams, had not returned SC Times’ requests for comment as of press time.

The last public meeting that concerned the Miramar Event Center occurred in mid-February, when the Design Review Subcommittee reviewed a previous request to amend aspects of the project’s design.

Steve Waldron, an architect with Architects Local and the ownership’s representative, detailed the request to expand the pergola shade structure by 272 square feet, modify the shade

Lightfoot said the project’s ownership agreed not to pursue the pergola expansion.

In 2017, the Planning Commission approved several permits that would allow for the landmark properties to be converted into the event center and food hall. In December 2019, the property was sold for $7.9 million to the Phoenix-based real estate company Fortuitous Partners, setting the project’s construction in motion.

Back in April 2022, the property was reportedly sold to a group that was closely linked to the project’s operator, Landmark Food Halls.