UCLA Community School

Why UCLA Community School was nominated

UCLA-CS is a dynamic community school with a strong focus on equity and a longstanding partnership with UCLA. It is one of LAUSD's first pilot schools and shares the Robert F. Kennedy campus (the site of the former Ambassador hotel) with 5 other small schools. The UCLA-CS curriculum offers interdisciplinary project-based learning with a focus on social equity and performance-based assessment. The school has a collaborative governance model and strong community partnerships., UCLA Community School is an innovative K-12 learning environment that prepares all students for college, work, and civic participation. The instructional program is community-based, learner-centered, and university-assisted. Building on the strengths of the local neighborhood, the school is bilingual, bi-literate, and multi-cultural. Parents and community members are integral members of the school and their funds of knowledge help shape the instructional program. UCLA-CS personalizes learning for each student to ensure and document academic, social, and emotional growth over a student’s school career. Students have Personalized Learning Plans that build on their interests and needs, supporting them as active learners in a variety of experiences including projects, rigorous coursework, council, internships, peer tutoring, seminars, experiments, and so on