SLIDESHOW: Elephant art, LAUSD kids compete for arts funding for their schools - KPCC

On Sunday, Los Angeles Unified School District elementary students will compete in the “Love Elephants” art contest at the Bergamot Station Arts Center in Santa Monica.

County and the Inner City Shakespeare Ensemble bring ‘Twelfth Night’ to Ladera Park Amphitheater - Wave Newspaper

A play William Shakespeare wrote in England more than 400 years ago is coming to South Los Angeles Sunday.

A view into the photography program at Humanitas Academy of Art and Technology – LA Times

More than 100 portraits of Humanitas Academy of Art and Technology (HAAT) students and their photographs will be featured on a 1,000-foot-long fence covering the construction of the Huntington Library’s Education and Visitor Center.

Los Angeles School To Be Named After Korean American Legend – New America Media

Los Angeles is naming a new elementary school after a Korean American living legend.

L.A. Unified OKs $1 lease to save aviation mechanics school – LA Times

The closure of a popular aviation mechanics school at Van Nuys Airport was averted Tuesday when Los Angeles education officials agreed to lease the campus from the city’s airport agency at the dramatically reduced rate of $1 a year.

Health exchange awards $37 million in outreach grants – Sacramento Bee

The UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities and the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency have a million reasons to celebrate after the state agency overseeing a federal health care overhaul Tuesday announced 48 winners of education and outreach grants.

NAMES NEW SCHOOLS FOR SAMMY LEE, SALLY RIDE AND DIEGO RIVERA

LOS ANGELES – Noted physician Dr. Sammy Lee is one of our own.  He graduated from Franklin High School, Class of 1939.  A scholar-athlete, passionate about studying and practicing platform diving, he became the first Asian American to win an Olympic Gold Medal for the United States.

Lee, a native Californian of Korean descent, won his first gold in the 10-meter platform in 1948 at the London Games. Four years later in Helsinki, he became the first male Olympian to win back-to-back gold medals in the same category.

Today, the Board of Education voted to honor him by naming a new elementary campus the Dr. Sammy Lee Medical and Health Sciences Magnet School. Located at 3600 W. Council St. it is scheduled to open on Tuesday, August 13 for the start of the 2013-14 school year.

“We honor a great leader today, welcoming Dr. Sammy Lee Medical and Health Science Magnet Elementary School to the LAUSD family,” said Board President Mónica García. “Our students and families celebrate the inspiration of his life story.  He models cultural pride, courage, hard work and perseverance.”

Speakers also supported the name change.  Michelle Steel, Vice Chair, California State Board of Equalization, said, “As the highest ranking elected Korean American in the United States and as one of California’s twelve constitutional officers, I want to unequivocally recommend that Central Region Elementary School (CRES) #20 be renamed the Dr. Sammy Lee Medical Magnet School. It would be absolutely fitting to rename this elementary school after Dr. Sammy Lee. He is an inspiration to all Americans for not only his accomplishments as an Olympic athlete but for his medical career which will inspire the students at this medical magnet school.”

Linda D. Paul, President and CEO, USA Diving said, “To name a school after Dr. Lee would be inspirational as Sammy is a Korean American who overcame discrimination to realize both his father’s desire that he become a doctor and his own dream of becoming an Olympic champion.”                                                

Two other campuses also received new names today.

While under construction, it was simply known as Central Regional Elementary School #21. As of today, the new campus will be called the Sally Ride Elementary School: A SMArT Academy, named in honor of the first American woman astronaut.

The Ride School, located at 1041 East 46^th Street in South Central Los Angeles opened in September of 2012.  It relieved overcrowding at five neighborhood schools in an area so dense in population that for decades, children had to be bused to another school far away from their homes.

Board Member Bennett Kayser represents the area in which the school is located.  He said, “I am thrilled that once again the Los Angeles Unified School District is taking the opportunity to celebrate one of its highest achieving alumnae, Sally Ride. (Portola Middle School) Beyond breaking the glass ceiling as an astronaut, Dr. Ride’s contributions to Science Technology Engineering Arts and Math (STEAM) education are significant. In naming this school the Sally Ride Elementary School: A SMArT Academy, the children and staff of have joined a legacy of greatness and I expect much future success.”

The new Diego Rivera Learning Complex, a high school named today in honor of the acclaimed Mexican artist, features four small learning communities with their own classrooms and science labs.  They share a library, a multi-purpose room, two gymnasiums, performing arts classrooms, offices and playfields.   Located at 6100 South Central Avenue, the campus opened to students in 2011.

Considered one of the most acclaimed artists of the 20^th Century, the painter is best known for his large public murals.  Many celebrated Mexico—its people, Indian heritage, earliest civilizations, history, culture, art, sculpture, dance, music, poetry, drama and labors—agricultural and industrial.    And, by the way, he was married for a time to another famous artist Frida Kahlo.

Rivera’s life was filled with contradictions - a pioneer of Cubism who promoted art for art’s sake, he became one of the leaders of the Mexican Mural Renaissance. Considered a great revolutionary artist in some camps, he also painted society portraits. Not limited to Mexico, he received mural commissions from the United States where he continued to champion workers, and display a fascination with the form and function of machines. He is known for major works in San Francisco, Detroit and other areas of the U.S. At the invitation of the Rockefeller family, he took his talents to New York.  In vibrant colors he depicted many scenes in a piece for Rockefeller Center.  Never one to shy away from controversy, he included a portrait of Lenin, which some found offensive.  His offer to add a portrait of Lincoln was rejected, and the mural was destroyed.

The school named for him and the other campuses are part of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s current $19.5 billion New School Construction and Modernization program.  The goal of this program is to provide every student with the opportunity to attend a safe and healthy neighborhood school operating on a traditional, two-semester calendar.

Schools Looking to Engage Students Rather than Suspending Them

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles City Board of Education approved today a landmark plan that makes the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)  the first in California to ban suspensions for what is known as willful defiance.

The measure approved 5-2, represents another major shift on student discipline within the school district. The board’s vote requires Superintendent John Deasy, who backs the new approach on discipline, to provide an outline within the next four months for putting a plan into practice.

“Today our youth rights agenda moves forward as the LAUSD joins our community in accepting the responsibility to support the School Discipline Policy and School Climate Bill of Rights,” said Board President Mónica García. “This resolution means more graduations, less incarceration, it means adults must learn new strategies to teach and practice new discipline policies that support student success.”  

Board Member Nury Martinez, a cosponsor said, “Once again LAUSD is becoming a model for progressive disciplinary policies. Students who are suspended for non-serious offenses are more likely to drop out later in their education. Today’s board action ends a policy that failed to keep our students learning or our streets safe.”

The number of instruction days lost to suspensions has declined sharply since 2006 when a new discipline policy was adopted. At that time, 74,765 days of school time was lost compared to 26,286 by 2011-12. Still, studies show that suspensions can cause students to fall further behind in school, and raises the risk of students getting into trouble with the law. Moreover, there was a disproportionate number of African American and disabled students being suspended, in particular, when compared to the broader student enrollment.

For these reasons, the district created a new policy that will eliminate a subjective use of suspension for such actions as not coming to class prepared or refusing to remove a cap while reserving the punishment for serious offenses.  ###

Vote follows months of behind the scenes negotiations facilitated by Board Member Nury Martinez and Congressman Tony Cardenas

Los Angeles, CA – The Los Angeles Unified School Board voted today to approve a proposed reduced rate for the Aviation Program at the North Valley Occupational Center at an annual cost of $1.

The agreement follows months of fast-tracking negotiations between LAUSD and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) led by Board Member Nury Martinez and Congressman Tony Cardenas (D-Van Nuys), whose influence was crucial in securing approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“This is a victory, not just for our students teacher and faculty, not just for the aviation community, but for the San Fernando Valley and the City of Los Angeles,” said Martinez. “The students who we educate here go on to good-paying, middle class jobs, many of which are right here in the San Fernando Valley. I thank our partners at LAWA for recognizing the importance of this program and for moving swiftly to ensure its continued presence at Van Nuys Airport,” continued Martinez. 

The Aviation Program at the North Valley Occupational Center occupies roughly 3 acres of land at the Van Nuys Airport, and enrolls approximately 100 adult and high school students every year who go on to seek certification from the Federal Aviation Administration as aircraft engine and airframe mechanics.

Recent budget cuts threatened the program with closure if new terms were not approved at a reduced rate. In December, LAUSD officials proposed a $1-per-year rent for the facility.

“This unique program provides highly specialized training at a reasonable price,” said Cardenas. “Students who attend the Aviation Program train on real aircraft in real world conditions that simply could not be duplicated at another facility. I am gratified that LAWA and LAUSD have come to an agreement to give much needed peace of mind to the faculty and students at the Aviation Center and I will continue to advocate for these students in Washington. This is a victory for jobs, jobs, jobs.”

Since early December, Board Member Martinez and Rep. Cardenas have been urging swift action from partners at LAUSD and LAWA to allow for continued presence at the Van Nuys Airport.

In January, a proposed business plan was submitted to LAWA along with a letter from Board Member Martinez along asking them to act with haste in approving LAUSD to keep the aviation center open.

In early February, Board Member Martinez announced a $100,000 private donation she had secured from aviation entrepreneur, Si Robin, to help keep the Aviation Center open.

On February 13, the FAA provided guidance to LAWA that a below-market lease fell within their guidelines, clearing the way for today’s vote.