By: Manuel Ocaño / Special for La Opinión Posted May 25, 2023, 5:30am EDT
The director of the New Los Angeles Charter School, or the New Los Angeles Charter School, told La Opinión that if there is a representative aspect of her campus, it is the way in which it interrelates with students and their families.
This is a case that happened at school. In the midst of the worst part of the pandemic in 2020, a boy who had to move unexpectedly from Mexico to Los Angeles that year participated in the school’s virtual classes through video conversation from home, because the students could not attend classes in person, but one day, the student stopped appearing in the virtual room.
The school feared that he might have been infected and sick, waited a bit, but since the minor did not reappear in the classes online, an assistant principal found out on his behalf.
The assistant investigated that the boy felt behind in classes, which made him sad, but the most important thing she discovered was that the minor “did not feel that he belonged, because it was a strange environment, and he did not leave the house either due to the contingency.”
The assistant explained the situation to the teachers and even a little to the students. What happened next was that as a community, even when they were physically distant, they supported the new student. She caught up and was able to get good grades.
Now the young man has already gone to high school or high school, his grades are still high, and in fact he is about to obtain recognition at his new school.
“This is just one of many cases that show how we relate to each other at New Los Angeles Charter School, and this type of experience is only possible when it is a small school with few students, because it is easier to relate to,” he told La Opinión the director of the school, teacher Kate O’Brian,
The New LA Charter School has an elementary or elementary school and a middle school or high school. In the summer it will open a second campus for elementary education.
Teacher O’Brian explained that the elementary school has only 250 students, which is less than half the average community of students at a Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) campus at the same academic level.
The New LA Charter School’s intermediate school has 330 students; The average for an Los Angeles school of the same academic level is 555 students, according to 2023 figures.
According to the director, when dealing with smaller groups, teaching is more manageable and better relationships are established.
An elementary school brochure says New LA Elementary cultivates future civic leaders through rigorous project-based learning and a hands-on commitment to social justice, teaching students skills that will enable them to thrive and ensure advanced academic success. .
The school nurtures and trains students who understand how to work together to solve problems, changing their own lives as they change the community around them, the brochure adds.
As for the middle school campus, he adds that by learning to work together to solve problems, students change their own lives, as they change the community around them. That was precisely what happened with that boy who had to move from Mexico to Los Angeles.
Also about the high school, he says that located in the Mid-City area of Los Angeles, the heart of a diverse city, New LA serves 300 students in grades 6-8.
With small class sizes, a diverse student body, and caring teachers, New LA is a standards-based, enriching school.
New LA has a rigorous, values-based curriculum that fosters respect for human life and provides relevant life experiences. The culture of the school creates a shared sense of mission, which reinforces in our students a love of learning, a commitment to social action, and a deep respect for others.