Welcome to the Green Dot Blog!

Inside the Dot: Expanded Learning as a Service

Aug 31, 2020

Join us as we explore how we serve students through expanded learning.

Green Dot Joins Virtual Panel on K-12 Student Homelessness

Aug 26, 2020

This summer, Melissa Peña, Green Dot’s Community School Manager, participated in the Homelessness Policy Research Virtual Research Symposium on K-12 Student Homelessness.

The New School Year Comes at an Unprecedented Time for Green Dot Educators

Aug 11, 2020

COVID-19 has caused an unprecedented shift in education, but while the pandemic has created many new challenges, it has also inspired our schools to innovate and develop new ways to serve our students, families, and communities.

The Power of “Yet” — Rising to the Challenge Amid a Global Pandemic

Aug 7, 2020

Carmen Leiva, a math teacher at Ánimo Watts College Preparatory Academy, loves watching students in her classroom experience “light bulb moments” of realization. In these instances she’d see a spark in their eyes when they’d see their hard work come to fruition.

Green Dot launches students to college with annual scholarship

Jul 31, 2020

On a sunny springtime afternoon, students across Green Dot Public Schools attended a virtual Launch to College event, where they joined breakout sessions with admission counselors and networked with Green Dot students attending the same universities. However, for two seniors, this event would add an extra dose of excitement.

CalMatters: A Focus on Injustice, Inequity in Public Education Must Drive California’s Budget Priorities

Jul 27, 2020

The past months have been a time of exceptional change and challenge for Green Dot Public Schools – as they have for most organizations, families and communities.

College Preparedness Shaped This Student into a Bonafide Leader

Jul 22, 2020

Growing up, Valentin Castillo knew he wanted to go to college and serve his community, but he didn’t know how. That path became clearer once he attended Ánimo Pat Brown Charter High School.

Why This Alumna Is Committed to Public Service

Jul 15, 2020

Breanna Maldonado has demonstrated that you can achieve anything with determination and drive. This year she received a full tuition scholarship to attend the University of California, Los Angeles.

My Journey to Stanford: Turning Goals Into Reality

Jul 7, 2020

“I just, I froze. I didn’t know how to process it. My sisters immediately called my parents and they started cheering ‘You’re going to Stanford.”

Students and Families Unite to Address Food Instability

Jun 29, 2020

Earlier this year United Parents and Students (UPAS) in partnership with One Family Los Angeles, launched a grocery voucher campaign to get money and resources into the hands of families in vulnerable communities with limited access to food. Through these efforts over $30,000 in grocery vouchers have been distributed to families in need. Read More…

Celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride, Inclusion in 2020

Jun 25, 2020

At Green Dot Public Schools, our school leaders and educators have worked tirelessly to ensure that our campuses are welcoming, safe, and rigorous learning environments where LGBTQ+ students can be their authentic selves.

Reflecting on a Unique School Year of Adaptation and Achievement

Jun 23, 2020

Our network of schools navigated an unprecedented shift this school year, like all of us have. Through persistent passion for education and dedication to preparing students for college, leadership, and life, we finished the school year strong and reinvented the way teaching and learning happens.

Juneteenth is a holiday of celebration, reflection

Jun 18, 2020

On Friday, June 19, we will join our African American community of educators, colleagues, students, families, and friends in celebrating Juneteenth, a 155-year-old commemoration of the abolishment of slavery in the United States.

This AP Government Class Takes Learning Outside of the Classroom

Jun 15, 2020

At Ánimo Pat Brown Charter High School, students don’t learn about government, they act on it. This past March, the the Chief Justice of California Courts and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction honored the high-performing high school with a Civic Learning Award for the second year in a row. This award recognizes schools’ efforts to engage students in civic learning.

The Graduating Class That Will Change the World

Jun 12, 2020

The Class of 2020 will always be remembered as the class of resilience. Since their birth they’ve had to cope with adversity. Born as the world struggled to come to grips with the events of September 11, they now transition into adulthood amid a global pandemic.

Graduation 2020: A resilient generation

Jun 11, 2020

“I didn’t just want to write a speech that was for me. I wanted to write a speech that embodied us, the class of 2020.”

Graduation 2020: The road to college and beyond

Jun 10, 2020

Oscar De La Hoya Ánimo Charter High School graduate, Jenny Legido, reflects on her senior year and road to college. In the fall she will be attending Middlebury College.

Graduation 2020: Senior reflects on sacrifices

Jun 9, 2020

“You showed us that these sacrifices were not about what was being lost but rather what was being gained.”

Green Dot Counselors’ Message to the Class of 2020

Jun 8, 2020

Green Dot counselors throughout the network share a special message for the class of 2020.

Students are Making Meaning of Current Events in the Classroom

Jun 2, 2020

Our nation has been facing uncomfortable truths about itself. Thousands of people across the United States have protested in palpable anger and disappointment in the unjust muder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.