Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez on Tuesday visited the Rose and Alex Pilibos School, where he met with administration and board members and became acquainted with the school and its current and future plans.
Councilmember Hugo-Soto Martinez with Pilibos Principal Maral Tavitian and Pre-School Director Kristina Movsessian and school board representatives
Soto-Martinez, who became the new city councilmember for District 13, visited the school for the first time.
Pilibos Principal Maral Tavitian and Postoian Pre-School Director Kristina Movsessian provided an overview of the school’s 54-year history and the unique and critical role it plays in the community, emphasizing that with its more than 850 student Pre-K-12 student population, Pilibos is an important educational institution that not only advances Armenian language and culture, but also educates future leaders. She also informed Soto-Martinez about the latest accreditation of the school by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which granted the school a six-year accreditation.
This summer the school announced that it had acquired a property adjacent to the school in order to expand the school’s capabilities and meet the needs of the growing student population.
Tavitian briefed Soto-Martinez about the plans for the newly-acquired property, explaining that the parcel will be able to mitigate congestion at the main campus and provide more opportunities for growth.
Issues related to the every-day operations of the school such as traffic and safety were also discussed.
Soto-Martinez then toured the campus and some classrooms, where the students welcomed the visiting official, following which he visited the St. Garabed Church across the street and toured the Postoian Pre-School, where he was greeted by students dressed in traditional Armenian outfits. The pre-school students presented a memento to the council member.
From there, the councilmember was escorted to the Hollywood Youth Center, which is also being used for additional classroom and school-related activities. At the conclusion of the visit, Principal Tavitian presented Soto-Martinez with a memento.
Recognizing Pilbos’ importance in the community, as well as the district, Soto-Martinez said he and his staff are looking forward to working closely with the school administration and board.
Tavitian and Movsessian were joined by school board members Talin Ghazarian, Garo Ispendjian and Sevag Demirjian. Also attending the meeting were Pilibos Dean of Students Sevak Antreasian, Suren Hazarian, from the St. Garabed Church board of trustees and Ara Khachatourian, the executive editor of Asbarez.
The Councilmember was accompanied by his district director Alejandra Marroquin.