Saturday, June 7, 2003 | 3:56 a.m.
It is never too early to check out schools for your child.
And Celine Dion is doing her homework.
Marland J. Walker International Elementary School in Henderson confirms that a member of Team Celine recently called the school's principal, Alan Bowman.
The school, which opened in the fall, is based on the European system of language immersion; starting in kindergarten, students split their time between English-language and Spanish-language classes.
The inquiry was whether French would be the next language offered in the specialized program.
Seems that parents Celine and Rene Angelil want their son, Rene-Charles, 2, to be as bilingual as they are. French is the first language of the Canadian-born couple.
However, the answer was no, French is not next on the curriculum.
But if not French, then what tongue is next?
Said Bowman to the Las Vegas Sun's education reporter, Emily Richmond: "I'm leaning toward Mandarin."
Teller talks! The quiet half of Penn and Teller is really quite an engaging fellow.
He was drawn out of his professional shell at the party Thursday night at The Rio celebrating "bevertainers," the new server/singer employees.
Most of the Harrah's and Rio headliners were there, including Clint Holmes, Ronn Lucas, Mac King, Frankie and Christine Scinta, hotel honcho Tom Jenkin and "bevertainer" producer Dick Foster.
So, what did Teller say? Alas, we had to "fake" sign a confidentiality agreement. And gossip types take those things seriously, even if they are pretend.
Comedian Robert Schimmel expected good crowds at his weekend Monte Carlo shows despite abruptly canceling several promotional appearances Friday.
His wife, Melissa, went into labor late Thursday in Los Angeles. He made it back to California in time to welcome their baby boy, then returned to Vegas.
A good omen: The baby was born three years to the day that Schimmel was diagnosed with cancer and given only six months to live.
Follow-up: Last Sunday we reported that one of VegasBeat's old friends, Helen Thorpe, was on the verge of being Denver's first lady.
Well, her husband, John Hickenlooper, overwhelmingly won that city's mayoral election Tuesday.
Lincoln Bedroom, here we come.
Paging Dr. Ruth! Paging Dr. Ruth!
The American Association of Sexual Educators, Counselors and Therapists is having its convention at the Riviera this weekend.
It's not hard to see why -- without leaving the property, conventioneers of all persuasions can find something to entertain themselves, with shows ranging from "Crazy Girls" and "MEN, the Show" to "An Evening at La Cage."
Super Mario: Director and action film star Mario van Peebles ("New Jack City") was dancing up a storm at BiKiNi's on Thursday night.
Noted Indian actress Waheeda Rehman is hosting a fund-raiser for Pratham USA on Wednesday night at Gaylord, the new Rio restaurant.
Pratham started in 1994 in the slums of Mumbai as a UNICEF program and now helps children in 26 cities in India.
Online sports book BoDog.com has weighed in on the Martha Stewart case. Oddsmaker Rob Gillespie makes her conviction on securities fraud a 1-to-2 favorite.
The odds that she will enter a plea on the fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice counts are 6-to-5.
And the over/under line for jail time is one month.
"Obviously we feel that she is going to be convicted, but it is unlikely she'll face a sentence that includes time behind bars," Gillespie said.
The women from the N9NE group -- which operates the clubs and restaurants at the Palms -- beat out seven other teams Thursday night at the Bump n' Grind II pool volleyball tournament at the hotel.
In second place was the team representing Olympic Garden and third was the Spearmint Rhino entry.
In fact, every team aside from the winners was made up of performers from local gentleman's clubs.
The headline would be: Brains over Beauty.
Score one for the rest of us.
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