President of Chez Panisse Foundation and Larchmont School Launch Edible Schoolyard

LOS ANGELES--(Business Wire)--
Alice Waters, President of the Chez Panisse Foundation, and Brian C. Johnson,
Executive Director of the Larchmont Schools, announced the launch of the Edible
Schoolyard in Los Angeles and West Hollywood today. The Edible schoolyard in Los
Angeles and West Hollywood is an affiliate of the original Edible schoolyard at
Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, in Berkeley, California, where gardening
and kitchen classes are an integral component of the community and the
curriculum.

"The Larchmont Schools are incredibly honored to be an affiliate of the Edible
Schoolyard," Johnson shared. "We work to provide an exemplary public education
to a racially, ethnically, and socio-economically diverse community of students.
The Edible Schoolyard affiliation enhances our ability to ensure all our
students are learning at their fullest potential while understanding the power
of healthy eating and being part of a diverse community." Johnson added, "Alice
Waters represents the best of American culture. The Larchmont Schools deeply
believe it is important to bring the best of our culture back into public
education so that all children have an opportunity to be healthy and successful
in the 21st century."

"The Larchmont Schools commitment to diversity, community, and academic
achievement makes them an ideal Edible Schoolyard affiliate," Waters commented.
"The Larchmont Schools are an ideal public school where children from all walks
of life will come together to grow, cook and share healthy food enabling them to
gain the knowledge and the values they need to help build a humane and
sustainable future."

Waters and Johnson made the announcement at a lunch on the Larchmont Charter
School Hollygrove campus attended by students, parents, and community members.
Hollygrove, an EMQ Families First Agency, provides innovative counseling and
social services that help children in the greater Hollywood area recover from
the effects of trauma, abuse and addiction. Since opening its campus to the
community in 2006, Hollygrove leases classroom, garden, kitchen, and extensive
outdoor space to Larchmont Charter School. The announcement today followed a
tour of one of the Larchmont Charter -West Hollywood campuses and gardens
located on the Rosewood Elementary School campus.

About the Larchmont Schools - The Larchmont Schools, consisting of Larchmont
Charter School and Larchmont Charter West Hollywood, is an academically high
performing public charter school network. The Larchmont Schools mission is to
provide a racially, ethnically, and socio-economically diverse community of
students with an exemplary public education through a constructivist curriculum
and an emphasis on family engagement and social responsibility.

About the Chez Panisse Foundation - Founded in 1996 in celebration of the 25th
anniversary of Alice Waters` Chez Panisse restaurant, the Chez Panisse
Foundation is committed to transforming public education and supports projects
that integrate gardening, cooking, and the sharing of a daily school lunch into
the core academic curriculum. The Foundation envisions a public school
curriculum that includes hands-on experiences in school kitchens, gardens, and
lunchrooms, and that provides healthy, freshly prepared meals as part of each
school day.

For Larchmont Charter School
Brian Johnson, 310-280-8139
or
For Hollygrove
Sandy Smith, 310-560-8372

Copyright Business Wire 2009