The Little School

The little school was located on the corner of Highland Avenue and Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, California.  Franklin Avenue shot away from the front of the school and a large church, with Baroque architectural design on the right side of Franklin would have been a landmark if directions to the school had been given.  "Turn right off Hollywood Boulevard, drive up Highland Avenue to Franklin and you will see the big church to the left on Franklin.  To the right on Highland is McEwen's School.  The school has windows along the front, from the street to the roof.  A peculiar building but unusual and distinctive."

The building had four classrooms and a storage room where the new school books where kept.  As a child progressed the director of the school, Colin McEwen would take the child to the storage room and search through the new books while the old book, wrinkled, torn and written in, until there was nothing left to learn was discarded.  There the new and untouched vehicle of knowledge would be handed to the waiting child.  The excitement and pride shone on the child's face and also the director was always happy and proud on this day when the child would be starting fresh.

There were never more than 200 children in the school at any one time.  They were all given equivalent tests and tested for IQ.  A child had to have an IQ of 116.  But the majority were closer to 200.  Many were professional children already and had a relationship with the studios in Hollywood and would be on set a lot of the time.  Mr. McEwen had to work with the kids and accommodate the agents.  Some would graduate early, around 16.  Some would be high achievers or musicians that were child prodigies.   And some special because their parents were in the business and famous.  All were very capable and some troubled because they perceived to much for their minds to handle.  There was the child dwarf who came to school in a limousine and carried  $100. dollar bills in his wallet.  His father was the CEO of IBM in L.A.  There was Donna O'Conner who looked just like her father, no mistaking her.  Patty Duke, Glenn Dictrow and Tony Haig, one of the children in the King and I, on Broadway.

Each child would outline the school book by chapter, answer the questions and take the quiz at the end and finally take the test on the entire book.  Book reports were due every two weeks and each child had the responsibility of writing a hundred word composition every day and to write an answer to a research question such as, "Who were the carpetbaggers?" Each child studied a language every year and there was a typing and short had room upstairs by Mr. McEwen's office where any child could attend and learn typing and shorthand, but few did and most that attended were women who wanted to do secretarial work.  There were four teachers.  Mr. McEwen, Mrs. Cellar,  Mrs. Hatten and another teacher for the very young children.  Mrs. Cellar also taught Persian students that had come for Medical degrees at UCLA, English.  She knew five languages and was studying Russian at UCLA at night.  A child was expected to work alone.  They were able to seek help any time but each classroom had many different aged child and any child could be on any number of grade levels.  Maybe they were studying Algebra but were behind in spelling.  The school day lasted four hours for children over ten but the small children stayed until 2p in the afternoon.  Dad, the food delivery man would drive in front of the school at 10a and all the children would get a break from study and buy something to eat and visit.

Mr. McEwen was an atheist and a humanist.  He majored in Philosophy and when he found a child that he could exchange ideas with, he had them reading Bertrand Russel.  Every important political event that was covered on T.V. was shared with the children.  Everything would stop and all the children would be herded in one classroom with a T.V. showing the special event.

He would invite interesting and unusual people for the children, once a yogi came to the class, cut off his circulation and stuck a thick needle through the palm of his hand while not experiencing pain or loosing blood.


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The children kept coming to the little school year after year.  Finishing their corriculum. Four short hours of academics, with a fifteen minute break at 10 a.m.  Mr. McEwen didn't care how pleasurable this process was, he thought that real life began in college and that a child should get there as quickly as possible.  No art, no music, no drama and no physical education-these activities were taken care of by their parents.  Just pure work at Mr. McEwens.