El Rodeo Elementary

Celebrating the Reopening of El Rodeo Elementary Where a Legacy of Learning and Community Spans Generations

By Delaney Polocheck | Photos Courtesy of Michael Allen

Community Chest project in 1936

Built even before Beverly Hills’ own City Hall, the renovation process has been a long time coming for El Rodeo Elementary, which has stood since its original construction in 1927. The school has been an institution that’s integral to the identity of the city — a rite of passage of sorts, where both founding families and new neighbors alike pass through, and later pass down, its halls across generations. This month, it will finally reopen to its first students since closing in 2019.

1959 El Rodeo grads

With three generations of El Rodeo alumni in her family, Molly Corey graduated in 1986 and followed in the footsteps of her mother and stepfather, who attended back when El Rodeo was a K-12 school in the 60s. Corey’s daughter, Georgia Evensen, graduated in 2018, and her son Bodhin Evensen attended until 2019, when he finished second grade and the school was shut down. Corey remained involved with the school as a PTA co- president that year.

Three generations of El Rodeo graduates: Bodhin Evensen, Georgia Evensen, Molly Corey and David Ansen

“I definitely feel deeply connected to El Rodeo as a second home. I was always telling the kids about what it was like when I was there,” Corey said. “The kids loved hearing our stories about going to school there. We were always comparing notes.”

1934 - Artist Hugo Ballin supervises the painting of his mural at El Rodeo School in the main lobby

And with a modernization process that also prioritized preservation, many of the historical hallmarks of the school still remain. A 1934, 1,500-square-foot mural commissioned for the Public Works Art Project (PWAP) following the Great Depression and painted by Hugo Ballin (whose work also is on display at the Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles Times Building, and Los Angeles City Hall) remains above the school’s auditorium. The school’s iconic dome has been reconstructed but with its original blue tile and Spanish Mission style. An engraved stone fireplace from the school’s original construction has also been preserved.

Standing in front of the original mural preserved since 1934

“It’s so exciting to see so much of the original architecture intact, like the original fireplace that was in both mine and my daughter’s kindergarten classroom,” Corey said. “I can just imagine that when the school was first built the kids would sit by the fire and listen to their teacher read them a book. Of course, we can’t have a fire in the classroom now, but that same warmth can be created.”

Lila Golshani (2nd grade) standing with her sister Ayla Golshani (4th grade) in front of the fireplace from the 1920s discovered during the remodel. Fireplace reads: “The child the light the life the love of the world”

The changes that were made to the school will also contribute to creating that same warmth — for example, a renovated auditorium designed to host plays, concerts, and dances. The changes to the auditorium were unveiled at a red carpet event hosted by El Rodeo community members including Fred and Azy Farahmand, who have had three children attend El Rodeo and are planning on Mason, their fourth, to start second grade there this fall.

“We would see our kids on that stage, so to see it renovated, it’s really amazing,” Fred said. “Now, we’ll see our fourth up there, and hopefully one day our grandchildren. El Rodeo is such a special place, and we’re so excited to see it open again.”

Jennifer Wolfe and her children, who attended El Rodeo Elementary: Teja and Raju and have already graduated, and Abhi and Bodhi, who are attending this year

Like the Farahmands, Jennifer Wolfe has had two of her children attend El Rodeo, and two more will soon begin there — Bodhi, who is entering third grade and Abhi, who will start kindergarten. Wolfe and her family moved to Beverly Hills in 2018 after living in Bangalore, India for five years. Having already experienced such a big transition, she is optimistic about the oncoming process of her children re-adjusting to El Rodeo, who have been attending Hawthorne Elementary since its closure.

“El Rodeo welcomed us with open arms. The teachers and administration helped smooth our transition when we shifted back to the states,” said Wolfe. “So, I assume that shifting back to El Rodeo will be virtually seamless — same friends, same teachers, same administration just within a new, modern, gorgeous building.”

Lila and Ayla Golshani will be entering second and fourth grade at El Rodeo, respectively. They would agree that they’re not nervous about the change.

“I'm excited to find out where my old classrooms are going to be, so I can see my teachers again!” Alya said. “And I'm excited to see where my new classroom is, and what subjects I’m going to learn in fourth grade.”

Former El Rodeo Elementary Office Manager Suzy Wallach stands with Co-office Manager Vivian Minor besides the iconic painted tile wall, where former students and classes can find their tiles from the past several decades.

For El Rodeo alumni, perhaps no faces are quite as familiar as Susie Wallach and Vivian Minor. Wallach was an office manager at El Rodeo from 1978 until its closure, and Minor joined her as co- manager in 1989. Minor describes the emotional aspect of watching the school evolve over the years.

“The families that are here helped me to become who I am — a part of this city, a part of this community,” Minor said. “It’s amazing. So for me to take that journey and be here with these families, it’s a memory forever.”

With Minor tallying 35 years at the school and Wallach totaling 46, they’ve truly witnessed the making of the school’s history, and how even though it’s developed throughout the decades, some things never change.

El Rodeo grad Julien Farahmand class of 2013

El Rodeo grad Jonah Farahmand class of 2016

“My role’s biggest change was when everything became electronic — when we first started in the office, we didn’t have computers,” Wallach said. “We did everything on a typewriter. But you still had to multitask. You have to be able to talk to the kids in front of you, hold the kid’s nose over here that’s bleeding, answer the phone, have somebody standing on the other side — you figured it out.”

And figure it out they have — Wallach and Minor are icons of El Rodeo, having seen thousands of kids pass through, including a fair share of now-famous alumni. Though they do not plan to return to work at the school, they proudly repeat a mantra that, with El Rodeo’s renovations fostering growth, learning, and development, still rings true today: 'All our kids are stars.'