Play Mountain Place

Announcing the Online Auction & Non-Profit Corporation Annual Meeting It’s Spring and that means it’s lighter later, flowers are blooming and that we are getting ready for the Play Mountain Place Online Auction and our All-School Play Mountain Place Non-Profit Corporation Annual Meeting. We are so very excited to bring you these two activities together starting on May 6. We are getting some pretty cool donations for our auction, including gift cards to fabulous restaurants, e...xquisite clothing, artwork, jewelry, and much more! Here's the link for the bidding site in case you want to take an early peek. When we open our auction, please spread the word among friends and family and anyone who follows you on social media! The more people we can get involved, the more bidding action we will have! Our All-School Play Mountain Place Non-Profit Corporation Annual Meeting is a chance for us to gather as the Play Mountain Place community with our focus on the work of the Board of Trustees. You will have an opportunity to meet our Board, hear about their work over this past year, and, by consensus, approve the Board to continue for another year. This meeting will be held on May 6, 2021, from 7:00 - 8:00 PM via Zoom. Please join us then! Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81246677245 Please take a look at this document for details about current Board members. If you have any questions, please email them to Ann Rosato, our Board President at [email protected]. After the Annual Meeting, we will officially open our Annual Online Auction. Our online auction is a fun way to shop safely and support our school. As always, thank you for all of your support. https://www.biddingowl.com/Auction/home.cfm?auctionID=4526

Congratulations to Play Mountain Place alum Issei Morrissey for being awarded a grant from the Projecting Possibilities Project (along with alum Allegra Samp and Caleb Jaffe, who we previously mentioned). A Year-Long Art Installation + Grant Program hosted and curated by Helms Bakery District in partnership with the Culver City Arts Foundation. In an effort to find comfort and connectedness through art, architecture, and design, Projecting Possibilities is a video install...ation featuring a new artist each week for 52 weeks, an entire year of rotating digital art exhibitions to celebrate, nourish, support, and promote Los Angeles-based artists. Issei’s work may be viewed outside from sunset until 2:00 am on the entrance of the Helms Design Center at 8745 Washington Boulevard, projecting out for street-side viewing. https://helmsbakerydistrict.com/projecting/issei-morrissey/ See more

Spring is here! A quintessential springtime sight in our Big Nursery Yard is the purple blossom of our over 50 year old Wisteria vine. Fragrant and spectacularly beautiful, we are so happy to see children gather and play under these vines again this year. We wanted to share these photos with you so you could enjoy it too! Happy spring everyone.

Congratulations to our Alum and current parent Allegra Hill for the recent interview with LAist celebrating the opening of the birthing center she co-founded called Kindred Space LA_Birth,Lactation,Education - a unique birthing, education, and support facility owned and operated by Black midwives.

Matching Funds Will Double Your Donation! Friday, February 19, 2021 Dear Play Mountain Place Community Member, We are very excited to announce that, beginning today, your donation to Play Mountain Place will be doubled by matching funds! ... Every dollar you give up to $10,000 will be matched, thanks to a generous group of parents of alumni. That means that your gift will go twice as far in helping us to stay strong during these tough times. Your donation, of any amount, will be doubled by matching funds to help us continue to provide children with the play-based, child-directed education we all hold so dear. Please give now to double the impact of your gift! Warmly, Judy Accardi, Co-Director Joe Ringlehan, Co-Director Donate Today https://www.playmountain.org/donate/

Congratulations to Play Mountain Place alum Caleb Jaffe for being awarded a grant from the Projecting Possibilities Project (along with alum Allegra Samp, who we previously mentioned). A Year-Long Art Installation + Grant Program hosted and curated by Helms Bakery District in in partnership with the Culver City Arts Foundation. In an effort to find comfort and connectedness through art, architecture, and design, Projecting Possibilities is a video installation featuring a... new artist each week for 52 weeks, an entire year of rotating digital art exhibitions to celebrate, nourish, support, and promote Los Angeles-based artists . Caleb’s work may be viewed outside from sunset until 2:00 am on the entrance of the Helms Design Center at 8745 Washington Boulevard, projecting out for street-side viewing. https://helmsbakerydistrict.com/projecting-pos/caleb-jaffe/ See more

July 20, 2020 Dear Members of the Play Mountain Place Community, We share in the collective heartbreak and pain of seeing so many Black lives lost to unthinkable acts of violence. We mourn, we grieve, and we fear that these incidents will not be the last to result from the persistent racism and injustice in our society. We want you to know that we stand firmly in support of the Black community. Black Lives Matter.... Read the full statement here:

It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that Rashid Wilkins, a former Play Mountain Place student, died on May 17th of a heart attack, which came without prior warnings or symptoms. He was 47 years old. He and his brother, Omar Wilkins, and his sister, Tania Wilkins, were students in the early 1980s. Their mother, Imani Wilkins, was a teacher in After School Care and in Big Nursery in the late 1980s. She died in 1991 at the age of 40. Her memorial was held at Play Mou...ntain. The children’s father, Imani’s husband Anthony Wilkins, was killed in 1974, at the age of 26, while in the performance of his employment in youth work, resulting in a wrongful death settlement. Imani and Anthony, active in the Black Student Union at Cal State Long Beach, had started their family in the 1970s, and later, seeking a place that supported the values the couple had wanted to surround their children with, Imani found Play Mountain Place. The family was loved by many in our community. If you want to send cards to Omar or Tania or contribute to the fund covering end of life costs, you can send them to Pat Pool Gross c/o EBI, 5632 Van Nuys Blvd., #297, Van Nuys, CA 91401, and she will send them on. See more

Spring Online Auction - Now Open for Business! Our online auction fundraiser officially opened for bidding this afternoon. Please have a look at our array of fabulous goods on offer. We hope you will bid early, and check back often! The auction will be live for three weeks, closing at 5pm (PST) on Sunday, June 14. You will see a whole range of over 115 offerings which add up to several pages of items, just keep clicking next page to see them all! Here are just a few examples...: A gift certificate for Two Bunch Palms Resort Disneyland Park Hopper Passes Lake Tahoe Ski Passes Are you yearning for a peaceful and tranquil setting? Make a date and escape to Burke Williams Spa, Vichy Springs in Ukiah, or Sierra Hot Springs. Retail gift cards for Christy Dawn (local dressmaker and shop owned by Play Mountain Place parents), The Acorn Store, Gelson’s Markets, Ross Dress for Less, and many more. Membership to Swap Society, the "swap before you shop" ultimate clothing swap (online business owned by a Play Mountain Place parent). Certificates to entertainment, restaurants, and family adventures. Also, note that there are a few too-bulky-to-ship items this year for local pick-up only. Beautiful handcrafted wind chimes, a pearl jewelry set, handmade quilts, a child's wooden kitchen set, Yerba Mate teas, newly released vinyl recordings, and more! We can use your help to promote this fundraiser! The success of this fundraiser will depend wholly on the number of people who end up shopping. To increase this number, we need your help! Please, please, please share the above Bidding Owl link on your social media accounts and with friends and family. Do you need a gift for someone who wants to learn something new? Or do you have a friend who loves Christy Dawn dresses? Might the grandparents be looking for unique gifts? You know what to do! Thank you again for your support, whether you are shopping or spreading the word or both. Good luck with those bids! Warmly, Ann T. Rosato Online Auction Committee:Ann T. Rosato | Jennifer Stevenson | Susan Derby | Sonja Smith https://www.biddingowl.com/Auction/index.cfm?auctionID=4526

It is with a heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of Mildred Perry, former teacher and parent at Play Mountain Place. We received a note from her granddaughter Abbie. She said, Play Mountain Place meant so much to my grandmother, who we called Nana, Mildred Perry. She worked at Play Mountain Place for several decades. Her daughter and son, Monica and Keith Perry, attended Play Mountain Place in the 60-70s, and her granddaughter Rozanna Perry attended Play Moun...tain Place in the 80-90s. Mildred passed on January 24, 2020 at the age of 87. She spoke fondly of the time, memories, and relationships she made at Play Mountain Place. Thank you for being such a beautiful part of her life. With love and gratitude, Abbie Perry. She is pictured in the photo, in the back row on the left, with her class at Play Mountain Place in late 70s. See more

It is with a heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of Susan Weingartner mother to Play Mountain Place alum, William Deza. Susan passed away on Monday, November 4 after courageously fighting cancer for the last 3 years. She was a champion for animal rights, a skilled photographer and most recently worked at the non-profit, Mercy for Animals. Please see the details about a celebration of her life on this event page.

Visitor Day Tour Dates have been set! If you are a prospective parent and would like to come on a tour to consider Play Mountain Place for your child, please give us a call and we can set you up on a tour! We are taking reservations now at 323-870-4381. Read more about admissions on our website www.playmountain.org

It is with a heavy heart that we share some very sad news with you. Brent DeCoste, a dear community member, husband of Ryoko DeCoste, our Little Nursery Teacher, and father of Kana, Shunta and Amon DeCoste passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Sunday, June 2, 2019. A Service of Remembrance for Brent Edward DeCoste will be held: On: Friday, June 14, 2019... At: Fukui Mortuary Chapel in the Garden 707 East Temple Street Los Angeles, Ca. 90012 Schedule: 2:00-3:00 pmViewing 3:00-4:00 pmServices 4:00-7:30 pmLight Refreshments and Viewing continued For families considering bringing children, the casket will be open during the Viewing and the Services. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to this GoFundMe site set up to help provide for the children’s futures. Special Request: Ryoko would like to gather written notes, memories, and stories about Brent from people who have special remembrances of him. She wants to keep and share these remembrances with the children so they have memories of the kind of person Brent was. You can bring these written notes to the service or send them to Ryoko. https://www.gofundme.com/help-for-the-decoste-family

It is with a heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of our alum Lyn Ross. Below is the information about the Celebration of Life for Lyn. Celebration of Life Saturday, May 4th, 2019 Hollywood Forever Cemetery... 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038 Viewing is available in the chapel from 11am-12:30pm. Service will begin at 1.00pm outside at the cemetery’s reflecting pool. Repast will follow the service on the adjacent lawn. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Educational Theatre Institute at https://www.paypal.me/ETWorkshop.

Online Auction - Go to Bidding Owl, register as a bidder and get great stuff! We have more than 60 items (over 3 full webpages) for you to bid on! Special items include: Christy Dawn dresses, Swap Society clothing swap Luxe Membership, Disneyland passes, Universal Studios passes, Museums, Comedy Clubs, bouldering classes and more, more, more! Post it everywhere, tell your friends, followers, family, grandparents, anyone can bid! Every bid helps support our school. Also, we need your help. The success of this online auction depends on spreading the word to as many people as possible, so please share!!!!!!!!!!!

Join us by the light of the (paper) moon! This Saturday, March 16, from 6:30-9:30 pm, the Play Mountain Spring Party and Silent Auction will take place at the historic Helms Design Center in Culver City. Highlights of our Evening Under a Paper Moon will include live gypsy jazz by the Icy Hot Club of California, a fantastic array of food, and silent auction deals on everything from Disneyland tickets to jewelry. Wine and beer will be provided, the latter by two local LA breweries. Consider sharing a sitter with Play Mountain Place parents and/or bringing along other friends or family. Buy tickets online for $35 per person. We would love to see you at what is sure to be a special, memorable, and lively event benefiting our school! https://www.facebook.com/events/1856243701150606/