Ellie's Equity Portfolio

A Research Project on the Los Angeles High School of the Arts

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Community Resources Project

Education 674 with Dr. Nasser Cortez

This is a brief overview of LAHSA and the resources that are available to students, parents, and faculty.

Overview

The Los Angeles High School of the Arts (LAHSA) is one of the six pilot schools that comprise the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools (RFK). This Koreatown-based campus hosts more than four thousand K-12 students per year. Koreatown is a densely populated, urban Los Angeles neighborhood of people who are mostly of Mexican or Korean heritage. Most families in this neighborhood are low income and about 26% of the population lives in poverty. Most Koreatowners are renters and nearly 80% of all households speak a language other than English.

The majority of LAHSA students come from low-income backgrounds, with about 94% of the school population qualifying for free or reduced-price meals as of 2022. The racial demographics of students are: 90% Latinx, 3% White, 3% Asian, and 4% other ethnicities. About 21% of students are English Learners. As a whole, LAHSA performs below the California Common Core Standards for Mathematics and English, and about 13% of students have been identified as having a disability.

RFK offers many services to its students and the surrounding community. For LAHSA specifically, which has a student population of roughly 440, there are four academic counselors (one per grade), a full time psychiatric social worker, six special education staff members, two community representatives, and a school climate advocate. LAHSA partners with the Linked Learning Alliance, a national organization that supports college preparation and academic success for students of color, and the school has two full time Alliance advisors on staff.

LAHSA is an arts-focused school, and has four arts specialists in its employ. Mr. Juan Parada is the school’s lead acting teacher, and the three other faculty members are Career and Technical Education (CTE) educators. Unlike other arts schools, LAHSA does not require an audition or portfolio in order to be admitted. Students are encouraged to audition and participate in the school’s many theater productions, and there are normally enough roles for everyone to participate.

Resources

Resource	Address	Website	Contact Information	Description
Educare	On campus office next to main entrance	Main Page RFK Page	Phone: (818) 646-5220. Email: info@educarefoundation.com. Senior site coordinator: Mayra Tec. Assistant site coordinators: Karen Perez, Alexander Ibarra	ACE (Achievement and Commitment to Excellence program) monthly workshops focus on character development, personal management, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal skills. Other after-school programs include tutoring, STEM enrichment, fitness, and fine arts activities. Specialized Student Services include case management, Take Action Campaign (sponsors student events), EL development, and substance use prevention and assistance.
UCLA Legal Clinic	On campus office across from Welcome Center	UCLA Page LAHSA Page	Phone: (310) 794-6871. Email: iflc@law.lausd.net. Director: Nina Rabin	The clinic offers consultations for staff, students, parents, and community members. UCLA law students volunteer here to assist clients in locating family members in immigration detention, negotiating with landlords, providing information about criminal proceedings for immigrants, obtaining visas, asylum, and work authorization, and holding workshops, professional development, and classroom sessions.
Gear Up 4 LA	333 S. Beaudry Ave, 27th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017	Main Page	Phone: (213) 241-1911. Project director: Janicia Centeno-Castillo (jcente2@lausd.net), Program Coordinators: David Gantt (dpg4366@lausd.net), Jill Manning (jmann3@lausd.net)	From 6th to 12th grade, this program guides a cohort of students and prepares them for college. Many programs are offered, such as advising and counseling, family partnerships, college visits and shadow days, career exploration, peer mentoring, and college application completion.
Karsh Center	3750 West 6th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90020	Main Page	Phone: (213) 401-4651. Executive Director: Lila Guirguis, MPA. Program Director: Michelle Lopez	Karsh is a Jewish social service center. It offers programs such as parent-child wellbeing (family support program, toy giveaways, free books, back to school events, ESL classes), health and wellness services (partnerships with vision and dental, grief counseling, free toiletries), food and nutrition security (food pantry, nutritional education, giveaways), and legal services (immigration, voter registration, housing rights). It also provides small business support.
Koreatown Youth and Community Center	3727 West 6th Street Suite 300, Los Angeles, California 90020	Main Page	Phone: (213) 365-7400. Youth Services Manager: Kendelle Milton (kmilton@kyccla.org, ext. 5132), Koreatown Engagement Officer: Tristan Kim (cskim@kyccla.org, ext. 5249), Office Manager: Valerie Mireles (vmireles@kyccla.org, ext. 5400)	This center serves at-risk youth. It offers programs for community economic development (financial support services), clinical services (medication management, mental health services, parenting education), environmental services, affordable housing units, preschool, after-school programs.

Analysis

As of today (09/09/2023), I have been a student teacher at LAHSA for three weeks. From my limited experience here, it is apparent that LAHSA has an abundance of resources, funding, and support services. In fact, the RFK Community School campus holds the record for being the most expensive school to build in the United States- at about $578 million (this was announced by the principal during the school’s first assembly meeting). Back to School Night, which was on August 30th, began with a Resource Fair. Organizations that serve the community (including the ones listed above), presented their services and handed out flyers and prizes. Many parents attended- more than last year, according to other teachers. The night was conducted almost entirely in Spanish. Almost all of the teachers here know at least a little Spanish and my Guiding Teacher herself is fluent. The parents appeared receptive to the information provided, however, I am unsure as to how many students and parents actually take advantage of the services and resources provided. The students are aware of them, but I hypothesize that they may not know how to communicate their needs to their parents.

Between low standardized test scores and an average graduation rate, it is hard to say whether LAHSA’s many resources directly impact academic performance. However, I am still learning about the school and its community, and I do not want to form conclusions just yet. My guiding teacher has mentioned that students particularly struggle with mathematics (my subject matter) and are less enthusiastic about the topic compared to the rest of their classes. She and the rest of the mathematics department are working on how to make the curriculum more engaging. I would like to see more services dedicated to mathematics development specifically, particularly towards developing foundational skills.

You can find my reference page here.