Backgrounder: Bruin Community School
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.
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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.
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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.
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Unlike charter schools that recruit students from across the city, BCS will serve neighborhood students exclusively and therefore relieve severely overcrowded sites nearby.
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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.
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BCS will begin with a few grades and grow to include approximately 850 students in grades K–12.
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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.
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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.
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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.