St. James Elementary School and Holy Redeemer Middle School have a new billboard up in the La Crescenta area. On Tuesday, Aug. 2, the large billboard ad was placed by the CBS Outdoor Company on Foothill Boulevard traveling west on the south side of the street approaching OSH, between Ramsdell and Cloud avenues. The production of the billboard material, which is vinyl, was donated by MMT, Metro Media Technologies in Glendale. They have been a long-term partner with CBS Outdoor Company and were in support of the schools. There were many people who put their heads together to make this happen in an effort to help the marketing campaign to attract new students.

CBS Outdoor has signed a one-year contract to promote both schools. The ad will bounce between several of CBS’s large billboard structures on Foothill in La Crescenta and Tujunga. The billboard artwork was designed by La Crescenta resident Jan Detanna whose granddaughters attend both schools – Jestena Galvan is a seventh grader at Holy Redeemer Middle School and Bella Galvan is a second grader at St. James Elementary School.

The billboard contract was arranged by Scott Christensen of CBS Outdoor Company. Scott and his wife Eileen have been long time parents at St. James and church parishioners. Their daughter Camryn will be in eighth grade this year at Holy Redeemer and their son Cole, will be in fifth grade at St. James Elementary School. Both Scott and Eileen have given many volunteer hours to help support the school and have served on  school boards and committees.

Special thanks to Lisa Tush, eighth grade teacher at Holy Redeemer, Jan Detanna, Scott Christensen, and the school’s Marketing Board for making this all come together. The board is part of the combined schools’ marketing campaign to attract new students.

A new campus sign has also been installed at Holy Redeemer Briggs Street entrance. This sign was a gift from the eighth grade class of 2011. The campus had long been without a sign and administrators knew that the “tucked away” location of the school was a problem in raising resident awareness.

The two schools merged last year with K-5 on the St. James campus and grades 6-8 on the Holy Redeemer campus. The administrators believed an aggressive and visible marketing tactic was needed to focus parent attention on the availability of Catholic education in the Crescenta Valley.

St. James Holy Redeemer Catholic School is accepting applications for all grades, call principal Susan Romero to set up a campus tour at (818) 248-7778.