In an effort to reach out to an increasingly diverse population, the Horace Mann PTA last week had the calendar on its website translated into six different languages: Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Persian. At the same time, a Korean parent at Horace Mann has started a "Korean PTA" to encourage families of Korean descent to become more involved with the school.

"In my many years at Horace Mann, we have never reached out like this to individual ethnicities," said Principal Steve Kessler, who taught at Horace Mann for 34 years before assuming his current position in July. "Celebrating our diversity is so crucial."

Horace Mann is the first Beverly Hills school to translate pages of its website into other languages. PTA President Howard Goldstein said that enlarging PTA membership to include members of all ethnic groups was an important goal for him when he took over the presidency this year.  

"When people feel detached, they are less likely to get involved," Goldstein said. "The goal of the Horace Mann PTA is attracting and engaging parents of all backgrounds to take their passion for their kids and translate that into a common bond that benefits all students."

The translation process proved to be surprisingly easy.

"It took hardly any time to find a few willing parents to translate or review the translations," Goldstein said.

Horace Mann has a relatively large number of new families this year—about 16 percent of the student body—and some of these families are immigrants. Parent Miran Michelle Lee noticed that some of the families from South Korea are not yet very comfortable with English.

"If we do things together, it is easier culturally to get more [Korean] parents involved," said Lee, who was encouraged to participate with the PTA by the many activities hosted at Horace Mann. The school's PTA is holding an average of one event a week this year.

Lee sent an email about her idea to Korean families at the beginning of the school year and about a dozen families have joined thus far. The group plans social activities and intends to sell Korean food at PTA events. For more information, contact Michelle Lee at miranta71@hotmail.com.

As a Horace Mann parent myself, I am thrilled to see such outreach. Our society is an increasingly diverse place where many languages are spoken and various cultures espouse different values. This trend will only increase as our children get older. Moreover, the effort helps shatter the stereotype of Beverly Hills being a rich, homogeneous community.

Almost half the city's residents are renters—not wealthy homeowners, according to school board member Lisa Korbatov. Other families make great sacrifices to live in the school district, forgoing a larger home or a new car that could be bought in a less expensive neighborhood.

Horace Mann, located on the east side of the city, exemplifies the diversity that exists in our community.

"Horace Mann has always been a real melting pot," Kessler said.