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Backgrounder: Bruin Community School

By Phil Hampton July 30, 2008 Category: Campus News

Related link: Press release on Bruin Community School

UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies is bringing its extensive resources as one of the nation's top education programs to the task of creating a model K–12 school in one of Los Angeles' most underserved neighborhoods — another step in its mission of providing equal access to knowledge and a quality education for all children.

Bruin Community School (BCS) is a partnership between UCLA, LAUSD Local District 4 and several community-based organizations. Scheduled to open in fall 2009, it is the first of five pilot schools planned by the LAUSD at the Ambassador Schools Complex.

A pilot school, BCS will be part of LAUSD Local District 4 but similar to a charter in many ways, with autonomy over budget, staffing, governance and curriculum and a school calendar based on an innovative teachers union-school district partnership.

Unlike charter schools that recruit students from across the city, BCS will serve neighborhood students exclusively and therefore relieve severely overcrowded sites nearby.

BCS will serve students from Wilshire Center/Koreatown, Pico Union and neighboring communities, together comprising one of California's more densely populated areas. The school-age population in this area is predominantly Latino (91%) and low-income (89%), with 50% classified as English-language learners.

BCS will begin with a few grades and grow to include approximately 850 students in grades K–12.

As a small school, BCS will personalize learning to meet specific student needs, utilizing multi-age settings, innovative instructional programs and — for older students — community-based internships.

BCS will be supported by a combination of regular district funds and private in-kind and financial gifts. UCLA faculty, staff and students will participate in the school as mentors, instructors, tutors, learners and researchers.

The Bruin Community School Advisory Board meets monthly to oversee all facets of the project. Members include prominent UCLA faculty; LAUSD Local District 4 leadership; accomplished LAUSD teachers; and representatives from various community groups, United Teachers Los Angeles and the RFK Commission. The board is chaired by Aimée Dorr, professor and dean of UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.