|
News from YPI |
Summer 2010 |
|
$14.3 Million for YPI Charter School
The State of California awarded YPI's Monseñor Oscar Romero Charter Middle School $14.3 million in funding through Proposition 1D to build a permanent school facility. "It's a wonderful thing for families attending our school, and all families in Pico Union," said Dixon Slingerland, YPI's Executive Director. "Monseñor Romero Charter was opened as a community school in 2007, and this new facility will provide a home for the wide range of educational and supportive services our families and community need and expect."
|
 U.S. Secretary of Labor tours YPI FamilySource Center On March 18th, YPI Executive Director Dixon Slingerland and Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti hosted U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis at the YPI Hollywood FamilySource Center in Los Angeles. Secretary Solis announced that YPI had been awarded a $3.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, providing health careers training for 400 clients. For more information click here.
|
|
YPI Submits Promise Neighborhoods Application
On June 28th, YPI submitted a Promise Neighborhoods application to the U.S. Department of Education. This submission culminated a three-year effort that began when Presidential Candidate Barack Obama announced his intention in 2007 to replicate the Harlem Children's Zone model through Promise Neighborhoods. YPI was joined by an all-star cast of community-based partners as well as public sector partners like L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and the County of Los Angeles.
|
YPI Program Featured in L.A. Times and on ABC-7
YPI's $6 million Health Careers program is training and placing 795 clients as Certified Nursing Assistants, Pharmacy Technicians, and Medical Assistants. This program is funded by federal, state, and city government agencies. During the week of July 19, the L.A. Times ran a feature article on the program and ABC-7 covered a program graduation at Los Angeles Valley College.
Click to view the ABC-Channel 7 Report. Click to view the Los Angeles Times Article. |
 600 Youth Hired through YPI Summer Youth Program YPI received $1.32 million from the City of Los Angeles Community Development Department in summer 2010 to provide 600 youth with summer jobs. Made possible through the County's American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Emergency Contingency Fund, the program offers paid employment as well as financial literacy and career development services for youth from CalWORKS and food stamps households.
|
 YPI Gala Dinner - Special Guests from Obama Administration The Empowerment. Hope. Access. Gala Dinner was held at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills on June 2nd, and honored LA City Council President Eric Garcetti, California State Senator Gloria Romero, LAUSD Board President Monica Garcia, and LAUSD Board Vice President Yolie Flores. Special guests included U.S. Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana, Juan Sepúlveda, Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, and City Councilmember Jose Huizar. The special guests from Washington, DC recognized YPI as a "pocket of excellence." For more information please go here.
|
 YPI Charter School Receives Highest State Ranking Monseñor Oscar Romero Charter Middle School in Pico Union has earned an API Similar Schools ranking of 10 from the California Department of Education. 10 is the highest ranking. This ranking compares Monseñor Romero to the most similar schools across California based on ethnicity and socioeconomic status. "I'm proud of our administrators, teachers, students, and families," said Yvette King-Berg, Executive Director of YPI Charter Schools. "It shows how much we can and will continue to do for students in L.A."
|
 365 Families at YPI Schools Awarded Home Computers All sixth grade families at YPI's three schools - San Fernando Institute for Applied Media pilot school, Monseñor Oscar Romero Charter School, and Bert Corona Charter School - will receive home computers in the upcoming school year. Awarded by Computers for Youth with U.S. Department of Commerce Broadband Technology Opportunity Program funding, this initiative will bridge the digital divide by providing technology, training, and broadband access for families that lack computer technology in the home.
|
 YPI Opens Community Center in Pacoima On April 13th, the THRIVE Family Development Center officially opened, providing case management, tutoring, enrichment, job training, financial literacy, and family support services to help Pacoima families living in poverty. The Center is housed at Maclay Middle School and funded by the City of L.A. Community Development Department. Please see the June 26, 2010 Los Angeles Times article discussing the challenges faced by Maclay Middle School. |
Quick Fact
YPI employs 36 Case Managers to provide customized case management for 5,630 families each year. |
 91 Families Graduate from the Family Technology Project Ninety-one families graduated from YPI's Family Technology Project on April 10th, earning complete home computer systems with broadband internet access at no cost. State Senator Alex Padilla and LAUSD Board President Monica Garcia joined YPI in congratulating the families. YPI's signature digital divide program will have placed computers in the homes of over 1,300 low-income families by the end of this school year.
|
 Third Annual YPI Family Summit More than 1,000 parents and students attended the annual YPI Family Summit at Bert Corona Charter School on Saturday, May 8th. A community fair led by YPI's Carol M. White Physical Education Program, AmeriCorps, and United Way initiative, the Summit offered workshops and activities for parents and children. Events included student performances, a soccer tournament, free health assessments for diabetes, cholesterol level, and blood pressure, and a keynote address by California State Senator Gloria Romero.
|
 YPI Receives Starbucks Grant The Starbucks Foundation selected YPI as a Shared Planet Youth Action Grant recipient in 2010. YPI is working with 400 middle and high school students to provide leadership training while organizing youth-led action committees to create community service projects across Los Angeles this year. More on this.
|
 YPI Provides 71,621 Hours of TutoringYPI provided 71,621 hours of tutoring for students in the 2009-10 school year. 2,514 students received 30 hours of intensive tutoring in English Language Arts or mathematics. 93% of students that completed Supplemental Educational Services (SES) tutoring reflected improved academic scores on assessment tests.
|
 Home Depot Award Helps Renovate 14 ClassroomsThe Home Depot awarded Monseñor Oscar Romero Charter Middle School a Western Division Community Affairs Grant this summer to provide much needed improvements to fourteen classrooms at the Pico Union charter school. Funding will provide for general repairs, including painting each of the classrooms the colors of different universities, such as UCLA, USC, Stanford, Notre Dame, Columbia, and others.
|
 YPI Training Center & Computer Lab Opens in San FernandoThis month, YPI opened a new training center at Library Plaza in the City of San Fernando. This center houses YPI's health careers program and a state-of-the-art computer lab donated by Time Warner Cable. The center is also conveniently located for families at San Fernando Middle School and YPI's pilot school, the San Fernando Institute for Applied Media. Stay tuned for information on a September 24th grand opening.
|
YPI Welcomes New Staff
YPI has several new additions to our team. Fidel Ramirez has joined YPI as Director of Youth Services, responsible for afterschool programs at 56 school sites. Prior to this, Fidel was the Principal at both Community Charter Early College High School and Community Charter Middle School. Fidel has also been Associate Director at the California State University at Northridge (CSUN).
YPI's new Pilot School, the San Fernando Institute of Applied Media, has hired a Principal. Dr. Luis Rodriguez-Cazares joins the school as it prepares to open on September 13th. Luis is a National Board Certified Teacher with a doctorate in education from the USC Rossier School of Education. He was previously Assistant Principal at North Hollywood High School. Neil Shah is the new YPI Director of Finance. Prior to joining YPI, Neil was the Vice President of School Finance at ExED, a charter school management organization in Los Angeles. |
Quick Links
|
Quick Facts
YPI has an annual budget of $34 million.
YPI operates programs at 95 sites throughout Los Angeles. YPI has more than 1,100 staff serving over 30,000 youth and adults each year. |