Choice of Public Schools for South Park Residents,First in a Series
We see babies in strollers, parents with toddlers, and even a few school-age children around the neighborhood. What are the options for school-aged children in South Park? There are some private school options in the South Park area, which we will explore in the next series. But what are the options for public schools? Herewith we would like to share our initial findings.
According to a LAUSD source, there is one's "resident" school, which means the school a child is assigned based on their residence address. For many of the students living within South Park the “assigned resident” school would be as follows:
South Park’s 9th Street School
Assigned resident elementary school in South Park:
· 9th Street Elementary for K- 5th grade at 835 Sanford Ave.
· John H. Liechty for 6-8th grade at 650 S Union Ave.
Assigned 9-12 schools in South Park depending on boundaries and assignments, may include:
· Miguel Contreras Learning Complex at 322 S. Lucas
· Ramon C Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts at 450 N. Grand
· Belmont Senior High at 1575 W. 2nd St.
· Edward R. Roybal Learning Center at 1200 W. Colton St.
However, this “assigned school” can change from block to block, so it's useful for parents to use the tool - https://rsi.lausd.net/ResidentSchoolIdentifier/ - as they are navigating the process.
More importantly, LAUSD offers a variety of school choice programs. For example, Castelar Elementary offers emersion in Chinese Mandarin, which is located in Chinatown. Parents can apply for their child to attend this program.
According to the LAUSD website, “DLE refers to programs that provide grade-lever content and literacy in English and the target language.” For example, there are schools that offer emersion programs in Chinese - Castelar Elementary in Chinatown with emersion in Mandarin. Parents can apply for their child to attend
this program.
However, DLE is not the only "choice" program; there are several including magnet schools and charter schools. Here's the website for Choices:
The South Park neighborhood includes a K-1 public charter school called Jardin de La Infancia Charter School at 1400 South Broadway. The charter school started in September 2004, although the new building and outdoor play-space in South Park opened more recently. The director is Zuzy Chavez, and the school’s telephone number is 213.614.1745.
One of the advantages of such a large school district is that numerous and varied programs exist across our vast district. If parents are willing to put in the work (and sometimes the commute) to find a school they really love, they can send their kid to virtually any school in the district that is within the e-choices framework.
Next issue – private school choice in/around the South Park neighborhood.
By Marty Goldberg and Debra Shrout