Five Green Dot Schools Up For Renewal Are All Re-authorized
Several schools across South LA were renewed this week, helping keep more high quality public options for these historically underserved neighborhoods. Green Dot Public Schools’ network of secondary schools in California had five schools under scrutiny this week--and all five were renewed!
In a unanimous vote of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Education, Ánimo Venice Charter High School, Ánimo Pat Brown Charter High School, Ánimo Mae Jemison Charter Middle School, and Ánimo South LA Charter High School were all renewed. The Lennox Board of Education also renewed Ánimo Leadership Charter High School this week.
“Tomorrow we continue building the road to college one brick at a time for each and every student who walks through our doors."
-- Cristina de Jesus, President & CEO of Green Dot Public Schools California
“Today’s renewals would not have been possible without the tireless work of our teachers, counselors, administrators, classified staff, parents and students at each of these schools,” said Cristina de Jesus, President & CEO of Green Dot Public Schools California.
“Today was also a reminder that we need to continue to strive to do better for our students because there is more work to be done. Tomorrow we continue building the road to college one brick at a time for each and every student who walks through our doors,” she added.
Green Dot’s network exists to provide support to each of our schools so educators there can focus on teaching and learning. Because the LAUSD Board of Education’s meetings are so packed, countless home office staff showed up before the sun rose. They sat outside of LAUSD headquarters to save a place in line for parent and community members who wished to advocate for their schools.
While public charter schools operate with greater autonomy and flexibility than their traditional counterparts, and have generally open enrollment criteria, Green Dot’s focus has been to build replicable models for transformation throughout the public education system. The reauthorization process helps ensure positive impact on students and the community.
Families and students have long sought out these five schools, and each has typically held a lottery since student interest surpassed the capacity of the school. This season’s renewals help ensure that families will continue to be served by these schools for another five years. In five years, each of these schools will complete the renewal process once again, and as a result, they have more accountability than for any other type of public school.
Even though many individuals contributed to the renewal process, it is Green Dot’s “Team Strong” spirit that truly makes the difference for the nearly 3,000 students and families served by these schools.