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OurLA...Featuring
Partnership for LA
Schools
The Partnership for LA Schools is
a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the City of Los
Angeles and the LAUSD. The overall foundation for
the Partnership schools will center on core values of
empowering teachers and principals; engaging parents and the
community; and providing students with clean, safe and small
schools. Partnership schools will serve as models of
reforms whose best practices will go well beyond just the
two families of schools and work to implement programs
with proven results throughout the
district.
Mayor Villaraigosa and Melanie Lundquist,
joined by School Board President Monica Garcia and
Superintendent David Brewer, announced the $50 million
cornerstone donation for the Parntership for LA Schools at
Gratts Elementary School. Melanie and Richard Lundquist
asked all of Los Angeles to join this fundraising and reform
effort, and challenged business and civic leaders to recognize
their responsibility to
contribute.
The $50
million will be tied to strict accountability measures
structured around academic targets and school safety targets,
including test scores, graduation rates, drop-out rates and
student safety measures.
 The funding will go to specific programs that will
have an immediate impact on improving student achievement in
the two families of schools and District-wide, including
teacher training and support; expanding LA's BEST; funding
uniforms for students; launching a District-wide campaign to
recruit mid-career professionals to teach in highest-need
schools; and expanding Teach for
America.
OurLA...Featuring
First Day of
School
On September 5, more than 447,000 LAUSD
students went
back to class at schools across the
City.
Mayor Villaraigosa began a series of
“Back to School” events with Superintendent Brewer, Board
President García and State Superintendent of Public Education
Jack O’Connell at a morning press conference at West Adams
Preparatory High School, a new LAUSD school in South LA run in
collaboration with Mentor LA.
After a roundtable
with teachers, parents and students at the Belmont Zone of
Choice Schools, the day finished with a tour of
after-school activities at Saticoy Elementary School in North
Hollywood led by students in the LA’s BEST and LAUSD Youth
Services programs at the
school.
OurLA...Featuring
LA's BEST Gets an
A+
Mayor Villaraigosa announced the results
of a new UCLA study, commissioned by the U.S. Department of
Justice, showing that LA’s BEST students are 30% less likely
to participate in criminal activities than their peers and
that for every dollar invested in LA’s BEST, the City
saves $2.50 in costs associated with crime.
LA’s BEST – Better Educated
Students for Tomorrow – is a nationally recognized
after-school education, enrichment and recreation program
serving more than 26,000 children, ages 5 to 12, with the
greatest needs and fewest resources throughout the City of Los
Angeles.
"When it comes to educating our kids and keeping
them out of trouble, LA’s BEST gets an A-plus. When we
invest in our children and we engage our students, crime rates
drop and everyone benefits," Mayor Villaraigosa
said.
Keeping OurLA
Safe
School
Safety Initiative
Mayor
Villaraigosa made his first assignment this year to ensure
students' safety at school with the launch of
his School Safety Initiative. Based on the successful
COMPSTAT system utilized by the LAPD, the Initiative will
provide law enforcement and the community with crime
statistics around high-risk schools, enabling the City, school
district and community organizations to proactively tackle
school violence rather than reacting to individual
incidents.
Sending a clear message that
children need a safe environment to thrive, the
LAPD and LAFD dispatched welcome
teams and additional patrol cars to greet students and parents
as they arrived at 150 LAUSD schools, including schools in the
City’s most crime-affected
neighborhoods.
The School Safety Initiative includes a
series of programs designed to enhance school security and
improve collaboration between public agencies and community
organizations.
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It's
OurLA
Looking for a way to make your mark in
OurLA? Start today by participating in one of
the ways below.
 
Volunteer for the City's Crisis
Response Team! Please contact Jeff Zimerman at
213-978-0697 or via email
to get involved. The program is especially in need of
people who speak Spanish or Korean.
Become a
Mentor!
Studies have shown that students with
mentors are 70% more likely to graduate from high school. 90%
of these graduates go on to college. Make a difference by
going to http://www.connectinglosangeles.com/.
Million Trees LA
One
million new trees in the City of Los Angeles will create an
extraordinary environmental legacy that will change our
landscape and neighborhoods for generations. To
participate and get your tree go to
http://www.milliontreesla.org/.
Are you
ready LA?
September was national emergency
preparedness month. Does your family have an emergency plan?
Are you prepared to face a disaster? Visit lacity.org/epd to find
out how you can prepare.
Latino Heritage Month
Take
advantage of the tremendous cultural resources Los Angeles has
to offer. Visit latino.lacity.org to see
what's going on in your area and what the City is doing to
honor its diverse heritage.
Homewalk LA
On any
given night, 88,000 people are homeless in Los Angeles County.
Nearly 40% of them are women and children. It doesn't have to
be that way. Help raise awareness and resources
to prevent and end homelessness in Los Angeles County.
Enough is enough. Together, we can make a difference. Speak with
your feet.
Griffith Park
Reopens
On August 27, Mayor Villaraigosa and
Councilmember Tom Labonge hiked up the newly reopened Mount
Hollywood Trail. Keep track of the latest Griffith Park news
on the recovery
blog.
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