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To find out more about Green Dot, our students' successes, and our plans for transforming public education in Los Angeles, visit our website:
www.greendot.org
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| Summer is here, and while many are thinking of vacations and taking well-needed breaks, Green Dot will be busier than ever.
June caps off an exciting and successful school year that saw our students continue to excel academically, graduate and get into four-year colleges. We continue to press for accelerating school reform in Los Angeles, and we are getting a lot of attention for our efforts-see "Green Dot in the News". Last month's school board elections brought a change to the LAUSD school board with three new, more reform-minded board members set to take office in July.
In the fall, we will open two new schools in Watts as part of the community's need to transform Locke High School into small, safe, high-performing schools. In October, we will hold our first annual Green Dot Ball: A Benefit for Great Public Schools to raise awareness and funds for making Los Angeles public schools the best in the country.
As always, we welcome and depend on your support in our drive to make all public schools in L.A. small, safe, and successful at graduating kids and sending them to college. Please join us!
Steve Barr
Founder and CEO
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Locke High Transformation Gets Huge Boost from Gates Foundation and New LA School Board
 Green Dot's plan to transform Locke High School in Watts received major support in early July from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the newly installed Los Angeles School Board.
The Gates Foundation committed $7.9 million in additional funding to support the opening of 10 Green Dot schools to transform Locke. This expands the original commitment of $1.8 million the Gates Foundation had committed to Green Dot for the Jefferson Transformation. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the grant saying, "By supporting Green Dot Public Schools in Watts, this grant will provide hope and opportunity to the students who need it the most."
The Los Angeles School Board's newest members and newly elected President came out strongly in support of the transformation plan. Board President Monica Garcia and Board Member Richard Vladovic spoke at the press conference announcing the grant. The next day, Dr. Vladovic introduced a resolution instructing Superintendent David Brewer to bring the conversion charter petition to the Board for a vote on its approval. Green Dot will take the first step in transformation plan by opening two public charter high schools this fall, just a few blocks from the main campus. We plan to open eight more schools to serve all Locke students in fall 2008.
Locke High is a troubled school with a graduating class that is less than one-quarter the size it was in ninth grade. Few students are proficient in math or English, and gang violence is persistent. We plan to turn this situation around by restructuring the overcrowded campus into small, safe college-prep high schools following Green Dot's Six Tenets for High-Performing Schools: small, safe schools; getting parents involved; holding students and staff to high expectations; maximizing funding to the classroom; giving principals and teachers significant authority over school-site decisions such as budget and curriculum; and keeping schools open later for community use.
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Seniors Score Big and Move On!
 Congratulations to the first graduating class of Oscar De La Hoya Ánimo! Students and parents gathered on a sunny afternoon June 21 at Loyola Marymount University to celebrate the school's 112 graduating seniors. Champion boxer, and Green Dot board member, Oscar De La Hoya delivered the commencement address. "Make your community proud," he told the students. "I know you can do it. What do they say? 'Si se puede. Si se puede.'" He praised the graduates for staying in school until the end. "The future holds so much promise for you all and I can't wait to see what you will accomplish."
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Overall, Green Dot's Class of 2007 proves that our schools continue to produce higher numbers of graduates and college-bound seniors than neighboring L.A. schools. Across the Green Dot network, over 80% of entering ninth graders graduated in four years, and nearly all graduates are going on to college, with two-thirds of them going to four-year colleges.
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Ánimo graduates will attend the following colleges and universities this fall: Wellesley College, UC Berkeley, Loyola Marymount University, UCLA, UC Davis, CSU San Francisco, CSU Northridge, CSU Long Beach, CSU Los Angeles, Santa Monica College, Cal Poly Pomona, San Diego State, UC San Diego, and more.
We wish our graduates all the best!
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Green Dot Partners with NYC Teachers Union for Charter School in the Bronx
Green Dot announced a partnership with the United Federation of Teachers to open a new charter high school in fall 2008. Green Dot and the UFT intend to submit a charter application to the State Board for approval and open a high school in the South Bronx, beginning with 100 students in grade nine and eventually expanding to include all high school grades through grade twelve. Class size will be capped at 25.
"We wanted to identify, recruit and promote a charter school consistent with UFT values, and our core principles are very much aligned with Green Dot," said Randi Weingarten, UFT's president.
Green Dot is the only non-district public school operator in California that has unionized teachers. The progressive working conditions Green Dot provides in Los Angeles will be replicated in New York, including giving teachers an explicit say in school policy and curriculum; a full and fair disciplinary process; a professional work day rather than defined minutes; and flexibility to adjust the contract in critical areas over time. |
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More Ánimo Students Pass the CAHSEE
Ánimo schools increased their tenth-grade pass rates on both the math and English portions of the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) from last year. Overall, 83% of students passed the English portion, and 73% passed the math, an increase of 3% and 1.5%, respectively. Ánimo Leadership passed an incredible 90% in English and 84% in math. Congratulations! Ánimo South L.A. and Ánimo Venice each saw significant increases in their CAHSEE math scores. Great work to all the schools!
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Save the Date for the Green Dot Ball!
On Monday, Oct. 29, Green Dot will hold the first annual Green Dot Ball: A Benefit for Great Public Schools at the Griffith Observatory. The dinner and benefit is a unique opportunity to celebrate the success Green Dot has had in the past year and to honor those who have helped us reach these heights. This year Green Dot will honor Eli Broad, Andy Stern, and Oscar De La Hoya as our "Champions of Great Public Schools." Please join us at this important and festive event. Your support of Green Dot Public Schools will help us create and sustain high-achieving public schools that area available to every child in Los Angeles. If you have any questions or need further information, please call our event coordinator, Judy Sitzer at (310) 899-9191 or Tony Shen at Green Dot at (213) 621-0276, ext. 237. |
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Winners Circle ODLHA Senior Lands Top Berkeley Scholarship
ODLHA senior Thalia Rojas won't have to worry about paying for college. Instead, Thalia, 17, will enter UC Berkeley this fall with a full scholarship. Thalia is one of just 20 incoming undergraduates selected to receive the prestigious Regents' and Chancellor's Scholarship. The university's admissions committee selects and reviews only a few applications from the entire applicant pool, then chooses only a number of students to receive the award. This year, 100 applications were reviewed.
The Regents' and Chancellor's scholarship is offered to international and AB540 students in high-academic standing. An AB540 student like Thalia is a student who has successfully graduated from a California high school but does not have a legal immigration status; state law allows them to pay in-state tuition. But even the reduced in-state tuition was too much for Thalia and her family. A top student in her class with a 3.9 GPA, Thalia was accepted to UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC San Diego, but her family could only afford community college. That seemed to be her path until she received the letter that she was selected for the scholarship.
"We are so proud of the hard work that Thalia has put fourth to make her dream of attending college a reality," said Angel Wagner, ODLH's college counselor. "I am confident that she is destined for great things in her future, and I cannot wait to see her reach her potential."
Regents' and Chancellor's Scholarship recipients will be honored this fall at a reception at the Chancellor's residence. Their academic career will be filled with opportunities to network with faculty and fellow scholars yielding lifelong associations. Congratulations Thalia!
Ánimo Sluggers Make the Playoffs
The Ánimo baseball team made it to the CIF playoffs and played a hard game with valiant effort before losing to Windward School 5-1. "The guys played hard enough to win, but we didn't get the timely hits we needed," said Rick Barron, the team's assistant coach. Barron added that the team had a rewarding season. "We have a strong core of players returning with some young talent coming in," he said. "Thanks to everyone for supporting and encouraging the team to the end."
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Principal Chad Soleo: Committed to the Cause
 Chad Soleo's career plan was to follow in his father's footsteps and go into business. Fate had other plans.
A desire to do some meaningful work after college landed at Locke High School in 2001 as an English teacher through Teach for America. Though his contract ended after two years, Soleo continued at Locke. Teaching in Watts was a learning experience for Soleo, who grew up in a middle-class New Jersey suburb. "I didn't know what it meant to live in the inner city," he says. "I didn't realize how health care and transportation all affect education."
The return on investment was also a difficult lesson. Soleo was used to seeing tangible results when he worked in business. "Teaching is a job where you put in 200% and you still feel like you're not putting in enough," he says. "It was new for me to do the best I could and still fall short."
For every student who was doing well, Soleo recalls, there was a student he couldn't reach, who dropped out, or worse, who got shot. But he loved the kids and believed in the work. He was also becoming an important leader at Locke. In addition to teaching, he worked on the AVID program, a college-prep program for under-performing students. Soleo built great relationships with families and teachers through his work with AVID. The program was so successful under Soleo's leadership that it grew from 20 to 280 kids.
Pushing for Change
By Soleo's fourth year at Locke, he was heading the School of Social Empowerment, one of six small schools located within Locke High that began in fall 2004. Despite the small school's success, Soleo was ready for a change. He took a job as an assistant principal at Locke and then, a year later, came to Green Dot as head of the newly opened Ánimo Pat Brown. To help run the new school, he recruited many of his colleagues from Locke, including teacher Liza Levine.
Committed to the Green Dot Vision
"He's so young, yet he's very driven," Levine, 49, says of Soleo. At 30, Soleo is one of the youngest principals at Green Dot, but he carries himself like a seasoned professional. Says Levine: "He's very diplomatic and has a natural management style. He knows to ask what people need and to listen to them rather than just telling them what they should do."
Soleo says he's never regretted his decision to go into education over business. His goal is to return to Locke High some day and to help transform it as Green Dot has helped begin the Jefferson Transformation. "I'm really excited by what we're doing at Green Dot," says Soleo. "I see real possibilities to be a catalyst for community and school changes and I'm hopeful we'll really be able to turn things around. I'm ready."
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News to Know.........
Ánimo Schools Get Accredited and Certified
Oscar De La Hoya Ánimo recently joined two other Green Dot schools in receiving accreditation with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). WASC is one of six regional associations that accredit public and private schools, colleges, and universities in the U.S. The accreditation establishes a level of credibility among colleges and universities. Ánimo Leadership and Ánimo Inglewood are already accredited by WASC and the other Ánimo schools will begin their accreditation process.
LAUSD Gets a New Board
Three newly-elected school board members joined the LAUSD board in July. Yolie Flores Aguilar, Tamar Galatzan and Richard A. Vladovic are allies of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa who has continuously voiced his desire to improve L.A.'s schools. The new members will be led by Board President Monica Garcia, another Villaraigosa ally who was elected to the school board last year. The new board will help jump start reform efforts at the district.
Newest Ánimo Schools Add A Grade
All Jefferson Transformation schools will add a tenth grade for the 2007-08 school year and Ánimo South L.A. and Ánimo Venice will have their first graduating classes. After our most recent admission lotteries, all Ánimo schools had waiting lists for student eager to attend.
Charter Schools Sue L.A. Unified over Prop. 39 - To No Avail
Green Dot recently joined the California Charter Schools Association, PUC (Partnerships to Uplift Communities) Schools, and parents of charter school students to sue LAUSD over the district's failure to provide charter school students with facilities granted by Prop. 39, the state ballot measure passed in 2000.
However, the judge in the case sided with LAUSD, noting that the school charters require non-binding arbitration before a lawsuit can be filed. Green Dot views this step as hurting public charter school students who have to contend with makeshift classrooms in fall 2007 while real classrooms at public schools go unused or underused.
LAUSD has failed to provide reasonable offers of facilities to charters as required by law. The district recently denied Green Dot's request to house five charters next year. Green Dot filed the lawsuit on behalf these five schools: Ánimo Ralph Bunche High School; Ánimo Pat Brown High School; Ánimo Film and Theater Arts High School; Ánimo Venice High School and Ánimo Justice High School.
LAUSD has had space available, but in many cases has chosen to use it for other purposes. For example, though Green Dot specifically requested use of the district's property on 14th Street and San Pedro, LAUSD used it to relocate existing non-school staff.
LAPU is Making Changes all Around
The Los Angeles Parents Union (LAPU), founded and incubated by Green Dot, is now a full-fledged 501(c)(3) organization, and has a brand-new website! At the LAPU site you'll find a wealth of information on how parents can help transform their public schools, parent resources, how to get involved with LAPU and more. Check the website regularly for updates in upcoming weeks with a blog and regular news section, a search engine to find local LAPU chapters and school board members and their districts, and exclusive features for LAPU members.
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LAPU board members recently met with representatives from six other parent organizations to explore ways to join as one unified organization in their push for better schools for children. "There is a real importance to have one collective voice to make greater changes in L.A.'s public schools," said Ryan J. Smith, Green Dot's manager of school development and public affairs, and one of the meeting's organizers. "Every other entity invested in LAUSD has a union, except parents." The parents collectively drafted a Parents' Bill of Rights, stating what they want-and their children deserve-from their public schools: no more failing schools, high-quality teachers. LAPU leaders hope the Bill of Rights will be the first effort launched by a new, larger coalition of parents.
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On June 9, LAPU hosted a reception honoring the new LAUSD school board members. More than 100 people attended the reception-whose theme was "A Dream for Tomorrow"-and enjoyed a live jazz band and Caribbean & Latin food. Board members Yolie Flores Aguilar and Monica Garcia each received the first annual "Dream for Tomorrow" award for their commitment to education reform and their dedication to improving the future for thousands of Los Angeles youth.
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LAPU members have also caught the ear of LAUSD Supt. David Brewer, who met with representatives of the organization in May to discuss parents' concerns about L.A.'s schools. LAPU members have also been online and on air in recent months. In late April, Shirley Ford joined a panel of educators and education-reformers on KTLA's Educational Forum "Learning Curves: Plotting Success for L.A. Schools" to discuss various issues concerning L.A.'s public schools. LAPU member Mary Najera was featured on the couragecampaign.org website discussing the benefits of small schools and how parents can get involved in improving their schools.
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Green Dot in the News
Been out of town? Missed the local news lately? That's the only way you wouldn't have seen Green Dot's name in the local press. The coverage of Green Dot in the past two months has included profiles of founder Steve Barr, reports on teachers from troubled LAUSD highschools interested in learning more about our organization, Green Dot parents joining other parents to sue L.A. Unified for classroom space, and Green Dot's efforts to convert Locke High. Read some of the stories on our website (www.greendot.org) or search for them online. Also, be sure to check out the online education blogs. Some local stories include:
Los Angeles Business Journal's profile of Steve Barr:
Unsentimental Education
Los Angeles Times' editorials and news articles, including:
Faculty at 2 more campuses discuss breakaway idea
Charters sue L.A. Unified over lack of classroom space
Locke High seeks to leave L.A. Unified
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