More than a decade after being founded, Academia Moderna elementary school and Prepa Tec LA middle school have become a jewel in the Walnut Park community and southeast Los Angeles County.
Xavier Reyes and his wife Griselda Hidalgo were the founders of 2009.
“I grew up in South Central Los Angeles, and when my wife and I bought a house. We realized, seeing our neighbors, the quality of education”, he says.
And what they saw they did not like, it is because That is why Reyes and his wife launched the Modern Academy, which goes from kindergarten to fifth grade, and the Prepa Tec LA middle school from sixth to eighth grade.
“We had to impact the trajectory of the lives of the students, and we set out to create a school with all the best such as the international baccalaureate, which in Mexico is a program that only private and rich schools have, and we wanted to bring it to the south-central part of LA to give it this to the families”.
Reyes, who is also the president of the schools, said that the focus of education it is holistic.
“We have a broad character development program because we want to help students define what and who they are going to be in life because that has a great impact on the family and the community”.
He remembers that he always heard his mother tell him when he misbehaved, ‘what are they teaching you in schools, if you behave like this’.
“We want to teach children to learn and scrutinize themselves”.
He emphasized that the vision of schools is to give children and adolescents an education comprehensive and rigorous.
“We teach them not to give up, to close circles, and to finish what they start”.
Prepa Tec LA students leave ready to go to high school, but from the kindergarteners at the Modern Academy encourage them to go to college.
“In fourth grade, the students hold a college fair. Each student has the obligation to research the university she wants to go to, introduce it to her classmates and convince them why it is the best. They have to sell it.”
They also focus on learning other languages, but in particular they have paid more attention to teaching Spanish because they realized that many Latino children do not speak it.
“So our schools are almost bilingual”.
They also have enrichment programs such as art classes, music , coding in English, indoor soccer, and others”.
The Academia Moderna and Prepa Tec LA schools are truly a gem in the community, he said.
“We believe in a high-rise approach: student success in school depends on families being a part of learning at home and at school.”
But he also mentioned that the teachers are highly qualified and prepared to guide the students in the learning; administrators are responsive to the internal and external environment and lead with high expectations.
While learning is personalized, tailored, and brought to life by everyone as they function like a sports team.
And finally, he added that his students learn to be responsible, useful and active citizens in the democratic process, which allows them to use their knowledge to be better themselves and their community.
“Our students are bold communicators who advance their knowledge by doing.”
Andrea Reyes, a new student at Prepa Tec, He highly recommended it to any ninth grader because it allows students to interact and offers many opportunities for those starting a new year. “It gives you a great start with many future benefits.”
Olga Vázquez, a mother, said that the dedication that the teachers show, the small class size, and the value of the diploma International Baccalaureate, make her proud that her children attend these schools.
“It feels great to see that as a parent you made a good decision in choosing a school. It used to be a challenge to get my kids ready for school. Now they are the ones who are very motivated to attend”.
Teacher Chrissy Arangoa said that she really enjoys teaching at Prepa Tec because of her vision, the students and the staff.
“Students are eager to change the world, and I really enjoy discussing how they will do it. At Prepa Tec we are a support team that works with hearts and minds to guide students to become empowered, educated, committed, creative and liberated human beings who want to make a difference”.