Another Triumphant Year For Gabriella Charter School And

Gabriella Axelrad
Gabriella Axelrad was a rising 8th grader
who loved dance and wanted one day to be
a classroom teacher. She died in 1999 at the
age of 13. Her family and friends established
the Gabriella Foundation in her memory.
Dedicated to providing quality dance and academics to underserved children in Los Angeles since 2000
Changing lives, one step at a time
www.gabri.org Winter 2012
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Elizabeth Berman
Ron Buckly
James DeWitt
Leah Fischer
Theresa Frantz
Cindy Gauger
Susan Gurman
Dulé Hill
Charlotte Hughes
Tatiana Blackington James
Jane Jelenko
Meg Kasdan
Paola Santana
Devy Schonfeld
Lynn Soodik
WAYS TO GIVE Dear Friends,
This year our
Board shortened
our name to
“The Gabriella
Foundation” and
approved a fresh
look to go with our
new name.
Online at www.gabri.org
By Credit Card
Visa and MasterCard only
By Phone (213) 365-2491
or Mail:
The Gabriella Foundation
3010 Wilshire Blvd., #79
By Check Made Payable to
The Gabriella Foundation
By Transfer or Stocks/Securities
Federal Tax I.D. #95-4773654 The Gabriella Foundation is a 501(c) 3 non-profit.
Donations are deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Another Triumphant Year for Gabriella
Charter School and Everybody Dance!
Gabriella Charter School
reached new academic
heights, received WASC
accreditation, attained
full K-8 enrollment and
won the prestigious Music
Center Bravo Award.
Everybody dance!
stepped up its recruitment
of boys while an increasing number of the program’s
accomplished young dancers were invited to perform in
prestigious venues here and abroad.
GAEF Winter 2012 newsletter.indd 1-2
Save the Date for the
2012 Annual Gala
June 9, 2012 At the Broad Stage in Santa Monica
11/17/11 8:24 AM
Celebrating Our Teens
He’s a male Latino varsity
point guard, age 16, who
gave up basketball for ballet.
Ballet Student
Alexis Morales, 16
Meet Alexis Morales, a
tall, lean, hard-working
junior with a warm smile
whose course load includes
three AP classes, plus
pre-calculus and honors
chemistry.
Somehow,
Alexis also manages to
train seven hours weekly
with everybody dance!
“Basketball was not that hard. Ballet is a much harder
workout,” says Alexis.
His ballet teacher Vera Ninkovic has great confidence in him:
“Alexis is passionate, hard-working, and a good example
for the other students. For a young boy to come here at the
age of 16 is very brave. I’m just
extremely impressed that he
decided to do this.”
!
Noble Stephenson was a fifth
grader at Logan Elementary
School when he heard in 2009
that LAUSD had awarded
Gabriella Charter School half
the Echo Park campus. Noble
decided to switch schools. “My
sister went to a normal public
school and there were at least GCS 8th Grader
Noble Stephenson, 14
Our Annual Gala At The Broad Stage
From left to right, row 1:
Sara Erickson, Elizabeth Moore,
Lisa Rooney, Susan Gurman,
Chelsea Hakola, Karen Weng,
Barry Levy, Jimmy DeWitt,
Former Mayor Richard Riordan.
40 students in her class. At GCS, class sizes were smaller and
they had dance and I thought that was kind of cool” says the
Highland Park teen, now an 8th grader at Gabriella Charter.
Noble’s goals are to become a lawyer and diplomat. School
staff believe his future is bright: “Noble’s go-getter attitude
continues to astonish me; if he wants something, he will
assign himself and do whatever it takes to make it happen,”
says Noble’s English and Social Studies teacher Jennifer Diaz.
Row 2: Liza Bercovici, Carlyn
Henry, Jane Gering, Leigh
Nickoll, Tatiana James.
!
Like her classmate Noble, Valerie Sanchez is a matriculating
eighth grader. Drawn to Gabriella Charter School’s dance
emphasis and rigorous academics, the straight-A
student joined GCS in fourth
grade. She is now immersed
in high school applications,
hoping for a scholarship
to a local private school or
boarding school. Although
her mother Dinora cleans
offices downtown each
afternoon, she somehow
finds ways to get her
precocious daughter to
everybody dance! classes
GCS 8th Grader
after school (ballet, tap
Valerie Sanchez, 13
and jazz) as well as ferry
her to eight hours per week of
test prep for the tough private school entrance exams. Says
GCS Principal Lisa Rooney: “Valerie is lovely, hardworking,
thoughtful and wise beyond her years. There is nothing
Valerie cannot accomplish.”
Student Highlights:
Amainary Contreras, 15
Recently performed in Mexico
with Vox Dance Theater.
Heartfelt Thanks To Our Major Supporters
Foundations
3 Princesses and a P Trust
Adams Foundation
Allen D. Kohl Charitable Foundation
Alpert and Alpert Foundation
Annenberg Foundation
Barry and Wendy Meyer Foundation
Broder Foundation
Carl and Roberta Deutsch Foundation
Caryll M. and Norman F. Sprague Foundation
Cheeryble Foundation
Chernin Family Foundation
Crail-Johnson Foundation
Dharma Grace Foundation
Dwight Stuart Youth Fund
Eisner Foundation
Eric Hemel and Barbara Morgen Charitable Fund
Falik Family Philanthropic Fund
Freedman-Weisberg Philanthropic Fund
Glen and Mary Ann Charles Family Foundation
Green Foundation
Herb Alpert Foundation
Irving and Doris Goldman Foundation
Jewish Community Foundation
Jonathan and Nancy Glaser Fund
Joseph Drown Foundation
Kayne Foundation
Kemmerer Family Foundation
Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation
Kissick Family Foundation
Luppe and Paula Luppen Family Foundation
Melvoin Foundation
Million Dollar Round Table Foundation
Mortimer Levitt Foundation, Inc.
Oder Family Foundation
Raymond and Barbara Alpert Foundation
Resnick Foundation
Romick Family Charitable Fund
Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation
Rosen Family Charitable Gift Fund
Rosenthal Family Foundation
San Diego Foundation
Stephen Halper Family Fund
Stuart Foundation
The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Fund
Tom and Ellen Hoberman Charitable Trust
W.M. Keck Foundation
Wendy and Jerry Sullivan Foundation
William E.B. Siart Family Fund
Individuals
Sandy Vasquez, 17
Will be performing in Africa with the Los Angeles
Jazz Tap Ensemble in April of 2012.
GAEF Winter 2012 newsletter.indd 3-4
J. Madeline Hyman and Peter Abrahams
Barbara and Ray Alpert
Sophie and Alan Alpert
Melissa Alt
Zen and Alfred Annino
Liza Bercovici and David Axelrad
Joseph D. Axelrad
Didi and David A. Barrett
Chris Barrett
Avery and Andrew Barth
Susan Baumgarten
Kathy and Ambassador Frank Baxter
Pamela and Dennis Beck
Wendy Beiser
Victoria and Michael Bell
Barbara and Peter Benedek
Barbara Berg
Mariellen and Peter Bergman
Liz and Rick Berman
Sharon Berman
Kappy K. Bristol
Cindy and Bob Broder
Patsy and Ron Buckly
Suzanne Rosenblatt and Jeff Buhai
Laura Burris and Stephen Friedman, M.D.
Janis T. and James R. Burroughs
Debbie and James Burrows
Judy Campbell
John Patrick Carroll
Jessica A. Carroll
Megan and Peter Chernin
Isabel and Paul Cohen
Phyllis G. and Barton J. Cohen
Melanie Cook, Esq.
Rosanne Covy
Melinda and Joe Coyne
Sylvia Botero and Norman Cuttler
Mark and Susan Dalton
Cathleen Young and Patrick DeCarolis, Jr.
Marian L. DeWitt
Lynne Gordon and Jim DeWitt
Lynn Arost and Frank Dines
Karen Phillips Donahoe
Bonnie Fisher and Boris Dramov
Carla and Gerald du Manoir
Roger Ehrlich
Kimberly and John Emerson
Jeanine See and James Epstein
Jerry Epstein
Susan and David Ettinger
Frank Falzetta
Dvorah Markman and Paul Fine
Leah and Samuel Fischer
Marianna and David Fisher
Wendy and Fred Fleming
Leslie and Michael Flesch
Julie Waxman and Seth Freeman
Susan and Allan Friedman
Nathalie Galbraith
Fritz Garrecht
Cindy and Bryan Gauger
Dawn Meg Thayer and Leon Gladstone
Rhonda and Michael Glowalla
Ruth Y. Goldway
Noreen Webb and Daniel Gonzalez
Laurie Burrows-Grad and Peter Grad
Susan Claman and Richard Gruber
Cathy Guisewite
Susan and Richard Gurman
Mary L. Gwynn and Mark D. Rossen
Laurie Vender and Stephen Halper
Stephen Herr
Dulé Hill
Hildy Gottlieb and Walter Hill
Elizabeth Levitt Hirsch
Victoria and Frank Hobbs
Eileen and Ralph Horowitz
Angela and Ellis J. Horvitz
Sofie Howard
Annica Ackerman-Howard and
James Newton Howard
Charlotte Hughes and Christopher Combs
Tatiana Blackington James and Todd James
Jane Jelenko and William Norris
Claudia Joyce
Dora and Neil Kadisha
Maria and Jeffrey Kalban
Heidi Schulman and Mickey Kantor
JoAnn and Charles Kaplan
Meg and Larry Kasdan
Inara George and Jacob Kasdan
Philip Kay
Joe Keenan
Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall
Sarah Glazer and Fred Khedouri
Janet and Alexander Kirkpatrick
Carol and Mitchell Klein
Debbee Klein
Jill and Stuart Koenig
Anita Mann and Allen Kohl
Robin and David Kopple
Joan Velazquez and Joel Kozberg
Norman A. Kurland
Wendy and Robert Landes
Alexandra Leichter and Michael Maroko
Sherrie Zacharius and David O. Levine
Jan Greenberg Levine
Nancy and Barry Levy
Gary Lieberthal
Arleen Sorkin and Christopher Lloyd
Arline Lloyd
Fran and David Loew
Jacqueline Lopez-Wyman and Mathew A. Wyman
Chuck Lorre
Barbara Corday and Roger Lowenstein
Drs. Renata and Perry Lubens
Paula and Luppe Luppen
Marilynn Mack
Rob MacLeod
Susan and Howie Mandel
Nancy and Howard S. Marks
Vicki and Kerry McCluggage
David Evan and Jennifer Ford McCormick
Lucy McCoy Bacigalupo
Michael McCraine
Margaret P. Stevens and Robin Meadow
Helen and Jim Melman
Janice and Bruce Miller
Nicole and Michael Montgomery
Kathy and Michael Moray
Bonnie Nash
Sherri Nelson
Leigh and David Nickoll
Betty Nordwind
Steve Norris and Duong Hua
Susan North
Janet Carol Norton
Shelby Notkin
Susan Hubbard and
Charles Warner Oakley
Carrie Odell
Linda and Carl Palko
Kathleen Palmer
John Pentecost
Lea and Barry Porter
Elisabeth and Charles Potts
Debbie and Rick Powell
Ros and Bill Pullman
Victoria Pene and Terence J. Quinn
Janice Kamenir-Reznik and Ben Reznik
Debra Thompson and Lawrence Riff
The Honorable Jill Robbins and
Robert Eisfelder, Esq.
Stacy and Ron Robinson
Janet Watson and Mark Rohman
Eden and Steven Romick
Margot Roosevelt
Esther and Rick Rosenfield
Monica and Phil Rosenthal
Carol Merryfield and Jon Ross
Linda and Tony Rubin
Betty R. and Thomas L. Saliba
Fern Topas Salka and Joe Ebin
Lori and Ted Samuels
Devinyl and Carlos Schonfeld
Toni and John Schulman
Glen Schwartz, Esq.
Talia Shire Schwartzman
Carol Fuchs and Martin Shafer
Laura K. and William B. Siart
Julia Franz and Chris Silbermann
Jennifer Simchowitz
Marta Kauffman and Michael Skloff
Paul Alan Smith
Jaclyn Smith
Christina Snyder and Mark M. Seltzer
Susan Ringo and Barry Sonnenfeld
Lynn Soodik and Stephan Wasserman
Rachel and Eric Stern
Ruth Waddell and Eric Stockel
Susan Stockel
Deborah and David Trainer
Laurie Vender and Stephen Halper
Pascale Vermont
Janice and Daniel Wallace
Herbert Wallerstein, Jr.
Stephanie Snyder and Michael Warren
Hope Warschaw and John Law
Mrinalini and Tom Watson
Lois Wecker and Rory Burnett
Joann and Richard Weiner
Michele Willens and David Corvo
Martha Williamson and Jon Andersen
Annie and Paul Wishingrad
Leah M. Bishop and Gary Yale
Diane and Michael Ziering
Government
California Arts Council
City of Los Angeles, Dept. of Cultural Affairs
Los Angeles County Arts Commission
Los Angeles County Arts Commission
National Endowment for the Arts
Corporations
Alpert & Alpert Iron & Metal, Inc.
Binney, Chase & Van Horne
California Pizza Kitchen, Inc.
Capital Group Companies
Charitable Foundation
CBS Television Network
Creative Artists Agency
Del Rey Shores North
East Shore Partners, Inc.
Feinberg, Mindel, Brandt & Klein, LLP
Horvitz and Levy
International Creative Management
Ixia
Paradigm
Singer, Burke and Co. CPAs LLP
Townhouse Retail Center, Inc.
Ziffren Brittenham
11/17/11 8:24 AM