Afterschool programs teach students tech as LAUSD restructures



When Jonathan Marcelino’s parents told him he could either own a computer or a cell phone, the decision was not difficult for the 17-year-old to make.

As the eldest of four children born to Mexican immigrants living on a tight budget in Nickerson Gardens, a Watts public housing project, Marcelino knew that although he would have liked to have a phone to regularly text friends, a computer would be more productive.

“Regardless of where I go, I want to study computer science,” he said. “I want to do cool stuff, make money and then do a nonprofit. That’s why you don’t see me running with a phone.”

The lack of exposure to technology and its practical applications in daily life is a reality many students living in and around South Los Angeles face, Marcelino said.

[Read more…]

LAUSD fails arts education test + Safe Halloween activities in South LA



LAUSD has cut arts programs dramatically and is now looking to reinstate programs. Above, Crenshaw High School.

LAUSD has cut arts programs dramatically and is now looking to reinstate programs. Above, Crenshaw High School.

Only 35 L.A. public schools get an A in supporting the arts: Budget cuts in LAUSD have diminished arts programs for students, but now the district is looking for new ways to reincorporate the arts into schools. (LA Times)

Families provided with safe Halloween across South LA communities: 25 intersections across South LA offered families the chance to enjoy a safe Halloween night in communities better known for violence. (ABC7)

South LA schools follow state-wide graduation trends



Crenshaw HS

Crenshaw High School

Nearly a dozen South L.A. high schools have followed a positive statewide trend of rising graduation rates while simultaneously lowering the percentage of dropouts, according to data from the California Department of Education.

Schools with the highest graduation rates for the 2013-14 school year include Thirty-Second Street USC Performing Arts with a 100 percent graduation rate; Foshay Learning Center and Middle College High, each with 99 percent; King/Drew Medical Magnet with 96 percent and the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies with 95 percent.

Of the South L.A. high schools, even those with the lowest percentage of graduates recorded graduation rates that were only 10 percent below the LAUSD district-wide graduation rate of 70.4 percent, with a majority of them on an upward trend. [Read more…]

LAUSD superintendent’s South LA legacy



John Deasy speaks at a City Year event in 2013. | City Year

John Deasy speaks at a City Year event in 2013. | City Year

High school seniors in the Los Angeles Unified School District graduating in 2015 have attended school under five different superintendents since they began kindergarten in 2001. That statistic punctuates the departure of Superintendent John Deasy, who resigned last month following a three-and-a-half-year term that included both peak performances and steep pitfalls in the district.

As the door closes on Deasy’s high-profile leadership as LAUSD superintendent, Intersections explored how Deasy’s work influenced the experience of students in South L.A.—home to some of the district’s lowest performing schools.

[Read more…]

LAUSD software inflicts scheduling chaos



In South L.A. and elsewhere, the L.A. Unified School District’s

buggy software has thwarted plans for students and teachers alike.

Misis | Matt Tinoco

Crenshaw High senior Simone Al-Alim and her father, Kahllid Al-Alim, are pressing the L.A. County Superior Court to investigate the district’s handling of its glitchy software.  | Matt Tinoco

Speaking to an audience of stakeholders in the Los Angeles Unified School District’s boardroom who seemed to already know what he was going to say, Superintendent Ramon Cortines announced that the district is, indeed, committed to resolving the slew of issues stemming from its new My Integrated Student Information System, MISIS for short. Doing so, however, will cost the district both time and money, Cortines said.

MISIS is LAUSD’s attempt to improve and standardize computer records across the district. The system is supposed to provide a centralized location for teachers, administrators and parents to access student information about all of their classes at any time. In addition, the system is supposed to assemble student schedules and class rosters, automatically, as well as to provide teachers with a place to take attendance. [Read more…]

Students at South LA’s Manual Arts High react to superintendent’s resignation



John Deasy speaks at a City Year event in 2013. | City Year

John Deasy speaks at a City Year event in 2013. | City Year

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy resigned on Thursday, ending a controversial, much-discussed tenure. The word about his resignation spread quickly through South L.A., which is home to some of the lowest performing schools in California with some of the nation’s lowest graduation rates.

Students at South L.A.’s Manual Arts High School, which in 2012 had a graduation rate of about 65 percent and a dropout rate of about 26 percent, are hopeful that a future superintendent can be a model leader, and bring resources to their school.  [Read more…]

LA School District endorses Proposition 47 to reduce punishment for common crimes



A student pushes for Proposition 47 with a sign reading "Smart Jusice." | Kate Guarino

A student pushes for Proposition 47 with a sign reading “Smart Jusice.” | Kate Guarino

More than 100 youth and community leaders gathered Tuesday in Downtown L.A. to rally in support of Proposition 47. Those who marched were hoping that the Los Angeles Unified School district would pass a resolution voicing support for the measure, which would reduce the penalty for some of the most common crimes in California including drug possession, petty theft, possession of stolen goods, shoplifting, forgery and writing bad checks.

LAUSD voted 5 to 1 to support and endorse the proposition Tuesday evening.

Under the referendum— which will be voted on in November—these crimes would be downgraded from felonies to misdemeanors and sentences would drop from a potential of three years to a maximum of one.

The Brothers, Sons, Selves coalition, which hosted the rally, said LAUSD’s support is an important step to gain momentum for the referendum. [Read more…]

Judge orders classes back at South LA’s Jefferson High



By Taylor Haney

Jefferson High School

Jefferson High School

LAUSD officials met with staff at Jefferson High School Thursday to talk about incomplete course schedules. A lack of resources has been keeping many students out of their required classes — or any classes at all. Yesterday, a Calif. Superior Court judge ordered the state to fix scheduling problems at the South L.A. high school.

One student told Annenberg Radio News that his schedule “wasn’t right” for him. For others, classes they needed just didn’t exist.

Click play to hear their comments: 

 

The ACLU of Southern California had lodged a complaint in May naming a few specific schools and detailing their problems. Here’s how they map out.

See also: #TBT South LA: Jeffferson High School, 1938

Crenshaw alum: Teacher suspension shed light on LAUSD teacher jail



Iris Stevenson arrives at Crenshaw High after being released from "teacher jail." | Amanda Scurlock

Iris Stevenson arrives at Crenshaw High after being released from “teacher jail.” Scroll below for video of Stevenson’s return. | Amanda Scurlock

At Crenshaw High School in South Los Angeles, the 2014-2015 school year almost began without one of the campus’s most beloved teachers. The Los Angeles Unified School District announced in August that music instructor Iris Stevenson had been restored to her post. However, questions about her several-month-long absence remain. The case has shed light on “teacher jail,” the unofficial nickname for a sort of institutional purgatory for district teachers, which until recently meted out a virtually secret form of punishment.

The LAUSD removed Stevenson from her classroom in December 2013, shortly after she returned from a performing trip with the Crenshaw Elite Choir to Washington, D.C. and Paris. Of the 20 participants, only three were enrolled Crenshaw students. The rest of the group consisted of alumni, chaperones and musicians from around Los Angeles. Upon their return, district authorities reassigned Stevenson, and did not explain why to students and families. She had worked at Crenshaw since 1985.

“Her case, which is a confidential, personnel matter, remains under investigation,” the district said in a statement last month. [Read more…]

George McKenna wins LAUSD School Board, LAPD reacts to South LA death + USC attackers plead not guilty



George McKenna | electmckenna.com

LA School Report: George McKenna won the District 1 seat of the LAUSD School Board covering a swath of South L.A., beating opponent Alex Johnson with 53 percent of the vote. Just 8 percent of eligible voters turned out for the runoff election.

LA Times: The LAPD provides details on the controversial killing of 25-year-old Ezell Ford in South L.A.

Reuters: Four teenagers pleaded not guilty to the fatal attack of USC engineering graduate student Xinran Ji.

LA Weekly: South LA’s KIPP Empower Academy Charter School in the Vermont Knolls neighborhood is named as one of the “awesome LAUSD schools in affordable neighborhoods” in a piece by our colleague Ani Ucar from Annenberg Radio News.

NBC: School is back in session, and things are starting to get back to normal at Miramonte Elementary, the South L.A. campus plagued since 2012 by reports of child abuse.

KCET Artbound: The old church at 49th and Compton is actually a modernist gem by architect Rudolph Schindler.

CityWatch: Is predatory loaning happening in South L.A.?