Administrator of the Year award presented

Marcy Jolivet from The Enriching Hour Preschool in Westlake Village was recognized as a leading administrator throughout the state and received the Administrator of the Year award from PACE (The Professional Association for Childhood Education) at its fall conference.

Her commitment to improving the quality of early childhood education is reflected in her support and dedication to the children, families and staff of The Enriching Hour Preschool. She was honored at the Nov. 14 Westlake City Council meeting by Mayor Sue McSweeney.

PACE is a nonprofit association established in 1955 to advance the profession of childhood education.

Banyan wins Honor Roll school title

Banyan Elementary School in the Conejo Valley Unified School District has been selected by the California Business for Education Excellence (CBEE) Foundation and Just for the Kids—California (JFTK-CA) as one of 570 public schools in California to receive the title of 2007 Honor Roll school.

Schools receiving this distinction from California's business community have demonstrated consistent high student academic achievement and have made significant progress toward closing achievement gaps among all their students. The CBEE Foundation/JFTK-CA Honor Roll is made up of two awards, the Star Schools Award (127 schools) and the Scholar Schools Award (443 schools).

Honor Roll schools are recognized because they are on track to meet the goal of 100 percent grade-level proficiency by the 2013-14 school year as required by federal law.

Park Service names photo winners

The National Park Service recently announced the winners of the Spirit of the Mountains Photo Contest, including winners from Ventura County.

The categories, placement, winners and their cities are:

• Animals, second (tie), Steve Sieren and Fred Vachss, both of Thousand Oaks.

• Animals, third (tie), Vachss, and Garry Star, both of Thousand Oaks.

• People in Parklands, third, Pat McLean of Camarillo.

• Plants, first, Sieren of Thousand Oaks.

• Plants, third, David Hayward of Westlake Village.

• Scenic, first, Sieren of Thousand Oaks.

• Scenic, second, Hal Muller of Thousand Oaks.

• Threats to Our Parklands, second, McLean of Camarillo.

• Young Photographers, first, Sarah Curtis. 8, of Oak Park.

• Young Photographers, second, Emily Curtis, 10, of Oak Park.

The 2007 Photo Exhibit was at the National Park Service Visitor Center in Thousand Oaks.