Your weekly “wait, that’s happening?” digest
Venice Rising is now a podcast - hosted by local kids. Every week they'll read you the newsletter, so you can listen instead of scroll. It's brand new and our kids are not pros (yet 🙂 ) - but they're getting better every week!
Hey Westside parents,
It's a four-day weekend for most kids. LAUSD is off for Labor Day, so is SMMUSD, Culver, and pretty much every private school on the Westside. Which means: one more Monday of beach…or one more Monday of screens…
Is your kid's new best friend a chatbot?
Somewhere in the last year the phone conversation changed. It's not just doomscrolling. Teens are now using ChatGPT the way we used AIM at 2am - as the friend who's always awake, never judges, and always has an opinion.
Read the full breakdown: Your kid isn't scrolling anymore. They're confiding...in ChatGPT.
The math club nobody told you about
Did you know there's an entire accelerated math world running on the Westside? Free UCLA math circles in Westwood, a free Zoom circle taught by high schoolers, a free competition club at Clover Ave Elementary that doesn't even grade the answers. And there's a version of the same thing running in Palo Alto that's ten times bigger, and it's why every California kid on the 2025 Math Olympiad roster (except one) is a Bay Area kid.
Then the part that stings: LA County has 11 Math Kangaroo test sites open to any kid. The Bay Area has 366.
This whole signup season is basically the next 8 weeks. Miss it and you wait a year.
Read the full breakdown: The first rule of math club is we don't talk about math club
Labor Day at the beach: where it's actually safe to swim
Santa Monica Pier ranked #2 on Heal the Bay's 2025-26 Beach Bummer list. Fifth year in a row it's ranked among California's most polluted beaches. Elevated bacteria, chronic pollution, ongoing investigation via the Santa Monica Pier Task Force.
Mother's Beach is the tricky one. Yes, the monitoring point at the lifeguard tower has been grading A in dry summer weather this year - which is why you'll see it on "good" lists. But that's one spot on a beach that has ranked on Heal the Bay's Beach Bummer list year after year (9th in 2024, 4th in 2021 and 2022). The exact things that make it perfect for littles - enclosed, no waves, no current - are the same things that make it hold onto bacteria. Water doesn't flush. Bird waste, boat runoff, and stormwater all sit in place.
If you're going, stick close to the lifeguard tower (that's the sampled spot), keep faces out of the water, and rinse kids off after. If your kid has any open cuts or a compromised immune situation, pick somewhere else.
The Labor Day rules:
Skip the Pier. Not the whole beach - just don't swim within a few hundred yards of the Pier itself. Walk south toward Ocean Park or north toward Will Rogers.
Check before you go: beachreportcard.org lets you look up any beach's current NowCast grade (updated daily).
Avoid storm drains and river outlets, always. That's where the bacteria concentrates. Ballona Creek at Playa is the big one.
And if you're already looking ahead to next summer's swim plans, our Westside Parent Guide to LA County Junior Lifeguards covers tryouts, training, and the whole rite-of-passage.
top picks (tue 9/1 – mon 9/7)
Tuesday 9/1
Airplane Bungalow Sidewalk Talk | 12:00pm & 6:00pm | Tue | 9/1 | 1921 20th St, Santa Monica. Fifteen-minute pop-up talk from the SM Conservancy about a 1913 airplane-inspired bungalow, then a walk to lunch or a snack. Free. Great for architecture-curious kids and grandparents visiting.
Wednesday 9/2
Sunset Series Regatta | 7:00pm | Wed | 9/2 | Marina Channel, MdR. Sailboats racing at golden hour. Pack a picnic, park at Burton Chace or Fisherman's Village, and watch from shore. Free.
Friday 9/4
Bundy Triangle Night Market | 5:00pm–9:00pm | Fri | 9/4 | 1500 S Bundy Dr, West LA. Weekly Friday market with Cayton Children's Museum hands-on activities on-site. Free entry.
Saturday 9/5 (Labor Day weekend kickoff)
Foam Party at Club Joyful | 10:00am–11:00am | Sat | 9/5 | 2121 Lincoln Blvd, Venice. First-Saturday-of-the-month foam party inside a Venice indoor play cafe. Babies free, kids $15. Café open 9am–1pm for coffee and playtime after.
Marina Movie Nights: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World | 8:00pm | Sat | 9/5 | Burton Chace Park, MdR. Free outdoor movie under the stars. Bring low chairs and blankets. First-come, first-served. Scott Pilgrim skews older-kid/teen - perfect if you've been trying to get your 12-year-old off their phone.
Tongva Twilight: Sounds & Cinema | 7:00pm–10:00pm | Sat | 9/5 | Tongva Park, Santa Monica. Free live music + outdoor film. This week it's yacht rock - The Windbreakers, then HBO's Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary. More of a parents' night than a kids' one.
Sunday 9/6
Bloom Garden: Art & Nature Workshops | 12:00pm | Sun | 9/6 | Skirball Cultural Center. Free family art-and-nature workshop in the garden.
Marina Drum Circle | 11:30am & 12:30pm | Sun | 9/6 | Burton Chace Park, MdR. Free community drumming led by Freedom Drum Circles. Drums provided. All ages.
Venice Electric Light Parade | 15 min before sunset | Sun | 9/6 | Windward Plaza. The weekly illuminated bike parade rolls the boardwalk at sundown. Bring scooters and stay for the show.
Monday 9/7 - Labor Day
Most schools closed. Beaches will be packed - go early or go far. Check the Beach Report Card before you pick a spot.
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