January 2025 Community Schools Newsletter

We recognize that the new year has ushered in many challenges, including the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. We are grateful for support from across the nation. Please consider donating to the LAUSD Foundation’s Emergency Relief Fund. To inspire and bring hope, we’re sharing some uplifting community school stories this month.

Thanks for reading!

10th Graders and UCLA Teaching Artists Create Mural at Mann

Over the course of the Fall semester Ms. Nguyen’s 10th grade English class worked in collaboration with The Hammer Musuem to make a long time dream of creating a school mural come true. The mural was created with UCLA teaching artist Josiah O’Balles, Avery Collins-Byrd, and Mann’s 10th grade class. The mural is inspired by the play “A Raisin in the Sun.”

Students at Mann often face challenges that make their dreams feel deferred, a theme of the play, but are encouraged through their community to find resilience and hope despite the struggle. The mural also pays homage to the school’s mascot—the Panthers—and the Black empowerment party associated with that symbol. It depicts a giant panther sleeping as children of different backgrounds walk across it’s back joyfully.

Teaching artist Josiah O’Balles shared, “The panther was actually chosen as a symbol of the Black Panther movement because it is actually a peaceful animal, it only fights back when necessary.”

There was a small celebration following the completion of the mural and students toasted with glasses of apple cider to a job well done. One student gave an impromptu speech where he said, “This mural represents our community and what we can do when we all work together.”

Integrating Arts at the UCLA Community School

California’s recent historic investments in arts education and community schools have laid a strong foundation for transformational learning. This brief shares findings from two research studies of culturally sustaining multigenerational artmaking at the UCLA Community School, an established K-12 university-assisted public school serving immigrant families in central Los Angeles. The school has been a site of statewide learning for the California Community Schools Partnership Program, which launched in 2021 as a $4.1B whole child investment to transform schools into community hubs. Complementing this investment, in 2022 California voters approved Proposition 28, The Arts and Music in Schools Funding Guarantee and Accountability Act, mandating a permanent 1% allocation of the K-12 education budget for arts and music education in public schools – amounting to $1B in 2023. To address systemic inequities, similar to the community schools investment, schools serving low-income communities receive a larger share of the funding. Both investments also share a commitment to culturally sustaining education and community engagement. Looking inside the development of the UCLA Community school’s Multigenerational After-School Arts Program (MASA) is an instructive case of reform integration and community-based learning.

Using Local Measures in Anaheim Union High School District

The AUHSD Data Use Case explores the journey of one school district to dream up, implement, and track use of a local measure of whole child learning within their community schooling approach. AUHSD incorporates the 5Cs – creativity, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and compassion/ character – as one of the three elements of their Career Preparedness Systems Framework. Alongside technical skills and an emphasis on youth voice and purpose, the 5Cs serve to guide educators to design learning experiences and cultivate environments that holistically support student thriving. AUHSD’s 5Cs offer a complementary measure of student success that moves beyond test scores and absenteeism rates, enabling educators to adjust their practices in real time to meet student needs and build on student assets. 

UCLA Community School Team Engages with Florida Educators

On January 24th, a team from the UCLA Community School traveled to Orlando Florida to share their experience developing a university-assisted community school as part of a state-wide convening. 

Led by the University of Central Florida Center for Community Schools, the Unlimited Potential Initiative Sustainability Conference brought together project participants at all levels (state DOE, PI/CO-PIs, University directors and coordinators, school coordinators, principals, etc.) who are working to grow or establish 40 UACS sites across Florida over the next five years, supported by a federal Full Service Community Schools grant. The UCLA-CS team included Lead English Teacher Dr. Beth Trinchero (pictured above), Principal Queena Kim as well as Drs. Kevin Kane and Karen Hunter Quartz from UCLA. 

Law School Clinic and Community School Partnerships – National UACS Call

Join the University-Assisted Community School’s (UACS) National Network for a special call showcasing the transformative power of partnerships between law schools and community schools. Featuring examples from the University of New Mexico School of Law, UCLA’s Immigrant Family Legal Clinic, and the University of Pennsylvania, this panel will explore how these collaborations work with their local communities to improve housing, economic justice, immigration, and entrepreneurship while supporting families. 

Friday, February 14, 2025
9:00 AM PT/ 12:00 PM EST

Click here to join the Zoom call

Mark Your Calendars

The 2025 Community Schools Empower Summit will occur on June 12-13, 2025 in Fresno County. The Request for Proposals is now open and will close on January 10, 2025.

On March 27, 2025, the UCLA Community School will celebrate its Quinceañera! The 15 year anniversary of the school’s opening will be honored by students, families, faculty, UCLA partners and community members, past and present!

We are excited to co-sponsor Learning Policy Institute’s “Re-Imagining Education: Transforming High School for Powerful Learning” web series. Register now for the series, which runs from November 20, 2024 to May 8, 2025.