Bird Rock Elementary School (BRE) parents, students, teachers and other community volunteers are busily gearing up for the 60th birthday celebration of the school — even getting their hands dirty to get the grounds ready for the milestone event. Preparations for the much-anticipated Community Open House and 60th Birthday Party event have been well under way for several weeks — even months — as students, parents, teachers and others have volunteered their time to beautify the school. In March, for example, nearly 70 volunteers braved windy conditions to rake, weed and sweep the campus, producing 100 trashcans of clippings and debris. La Jolla-based landscape company Coastal Landscaping donated its services to the school’s spring cleanup, including converting two large loads of debris into recycled mulch. “Thanks to this wonderful community spirit, our school looks terrific!” said Lorene LaCava, kindergarten teacher and chair of the school’s Celebrate 60 committee. The cleanup day was successful not only in beautifying the campus, she said, but also in teaching children and adults alike the meaning of community-mindedness. “One family wrote us a note to thank us and say they enjoyed the opportunity to work with their children as the children learn what the word ‘community’ really means,” LaCava said. “Everyone else who came that day wanted to do it again. The kids, everyone responded with, ‘It was fun!’” Throughout the school year, LaCava and other dedicated Celebrate 60 committee volunteers have helped spruce up the campus with numerous beautification projects — including the creation of several mosaic benches by local artist Jane Wheeler, the establishment of a student-art and photo gallery with class photos and the creation of notebooks hosting nearly 600 written memories from the school’s 60 years in existence — all of which will be celebrated and formally dedicated at the school’s open house and birthday celebration on May 24. Each month has seen different efforts to prepare the school for the event. Last month’s cleanup project involved clearing and designing a “Celebrate 60” garden under the direction of teachers Carol Shear and Heather Polen. Students created designs for the placement of plants, hardscape and statuary to transform the area into a virtual “underwater reef” using succulents and artwork. Art teacher Alyson Blum will facilitate a rotating sea-inspired landscape of student art for an imaginative garden that is as ever changing as the waves.