LMU School of Education and Queen’s University Belfast Partner in Teacher Exchange
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 16, 2017 — What can educators at Catholic and Protestant schools in Northern Ireland learn from their counterparts 5,000 miles away at traditional public schools and public charter schools around Los Angeles—and vice versa?
Those answers will be gleaned from a collaboration between Loyola Marymount University’s School of Education and Queen’s University Belfast—an international exchange funded with a $55,000 grant from the U.S. Embassy in London. The initiative paved the way for 17 local educators and policymakers from LAUSD, Youth Policy Institute (YPI), WISH Charter, and Loyola Marymount University to visit classrooms in Northern Ireland in January, and it will fund a trip in April for Northern Ireland educators to visit Los Angeles and LMU.
Read moreA New Journey - A New Promise
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On Wednesday, Mayor Eric Garcetti, LAUSD Board President Steve Zimmer, and School Board Member Mónica García joined YPI President & CEO Dixon Slingerland in announcing a new $30 million Promise Neighborhood grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education. In the courtyard of Berendo Middle School and Monseñor Oscar Romero Charter School’s shared campus, students, parents, and partners gathered to celebrate one of only six awards in the nation.
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The eight Promise Neighborhood schools are located in Pico-Union and Hollywood in the federally-designated Los Angeles Promise Zone, which has generated 55 new grants from 15 federal agencies since 2013. These investments have brought $277 million to L.A.’s place-based approach to fighting poverty, providing essential services to youth and families who need them most. This is the second Promise Neighborhood awarded to YPI and Los Angeles.
Read yesterday’s los angeles times article.
 $30-million U.S. grant for L.A. students hailed By Sonali Kohli, Los Angeles Times As President Trump signed executive orders to strengthen immigration enforcement and deny funding to “sanctuary cities,” L.A.’s mayor and school officials gathered to celebrate a $30-million federal grant to help students in eight schools with large Latino populations and reaffirmed their commitment to protecting immigrant students and their families. |
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Promise Neighborhood Proficiency Is Up!
August 31, 2016
YPI congratulates the schools of the Los Angeles Promise Neighborhood on outstanding results in the latest round of standardized test scores released by the California Department of Education last week.
Read moreU.S. Senator Tim Kaine Visits the L.A. Promise Neighborhood
U.S. Department of Education Awards New Grant to YPI
1,000 first-generation students will soon have access to college. On August 12, 2016, YPI was honored to receive a five-year, $1.2 million Educational Opportunity Centers grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
Read moreLAUSD Invests in Medical Simulation Labs at Two YPI Schools
June 29, 2016
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is investing $4 million in YPI’s Sylmar Biotech Health Academy and STEM Academy of Hollywood (both Promise Neighborhood schools).
Read moreLos Angeles Promise Neighborhood
Signature Education and Poverty Program
The Promise Neighborhood Initiative is the Obama Administration’s signature education and anti-poverty program strategically developed to transform schools and communities into vibrant centers of opportunity and excellence.
Youth Policy Institute is the lead agency for the Los Angeles Promise Neighborhood and was awarded a $30 million grant by the U.S. Department of Education in December 2012 and again in 2016.
Every Student Succeeds Act
Promise Neighborhoods and Full-Service Community Schools are now a permanent part of education law, thanks to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) passed by Congress in 2015. And in 2016, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions sponsored a resolution about the importance of extending the Promise Neighborhoods work.
The Committee strongly believes that Promise Neighborhoods grantees may need more than five years to implement the transformational reforms and demonstrate the results envisioned by this program. ESSA, which authorizes Promise Neighborhoods as a stand-alone program, allows the Department to extend grants for a period of up to two years. The Committee directs the Department to use that authority to extend funding for current high-quality Promise Neighborhoods programs that have demonstrated promising results through their initial implementation grant.
Cradle-to-College-and-Career-Support
The Los Angeles Promise Neighborhood is transforming the communities of Pacoima and Hollywood by implementing a continuum of integrated cradle-to-college-and-career services. The Promise Neighborhood includes a range of school options including traditional, charter, pilot, and partnership schools.
New model for collaboration in Los Angeles
The centerpiece of the Promise Neighborhood is an innovative public-private partnership with the City and County of Los Angeles and Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) that incorporates diverse funding streams around a core set of outcomes and objectives. The Promise Neighborhood is currently transforming 19 neighborhood schools into full-service community schools. Many of YPI’s partners are involved in the collaboration and have the option to share data through the groundbreaking Efforts-to-Outcome data system.
Continuum of Services
The Los Angeles Promise Neighborhood and YPI focus on integrating wrap-around services that include: prenatal and early childhood development, extended learning time, linked learning, technology initiatives, summer and bridge programs, college preparation, career development, dropout and gang prevention, and reconnections for out-of-school youth. YPI also provides family support services that include: case management, referrals to health and housing services, and legal support. In addition, YPI offers adult education, including ESL (English as a Second Language), GED (General Educational Development) and computer literacy classes, as well as a comprehensive asset building program that includes financial literacy education, matched savings accounts, individual development accounts, financial coaching, and free tax preparation.
Every Promise Neighborhood Center has become a one-stop shop for families, modeled on YPI’s Hollywood FamilySource Center.
LA #’s
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Total population in LA living in poverty: 23%
source: Kids Count Data Center: Population in Poverty.
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Children living in poverty in LA: 60%
The share of children under age 18 who live in families with incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. (2013)
source: Kids Count Data Center: Children Below 200% Poverty
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Of the population 25 years and older that lives in poverty:
- 44% of did not graduate from high school
- 22% graduated from high school
- 20% have some college experience or possess an associate’s degree
- 14% have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.
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High School Graduation Rate: 70.4%
51.5% for English Learners
source: Cohort Outcome Data for the Class of 2013-14 by Race/Ethnicity
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An income of $56,960 is required to afford a 2-bedroom unit at fair market rate ($1,424)—this translates into 3 full-time jobs at minimum wage.
source: National Low Income Housing Coalition, Out of Reach 2015
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YPI currently serves over 25,000 students and approximately 9,020 families through educational programming and supportive services.
source: YPI Research Department, 2015
As YPI continues to grow and expand wraparound services for youth and families, inter-generational poverty will end for thousands in Los Angeles.