West Adams Prep made history as the city's first Partner School when it opened its doors to 2200 students in September 2007. MLA Partner Schools and LAUSD came together in an unprecedented collaboration to create this visionary school now serving an entire South Los Angeles neighborhood with the highest quality education.
The vision for West Adams Prep was developed and refined over many months before the school's construction finished. Special attention was placed on understanding the needs of the community situated around the school so that West Adams could be, in fact, a "neighborhood school."
Because the principal of West Adams was appointed early on, the leadership team was able to build consensus among key community stakeholders around the school's design, attributes and culture. MLA facilitated a process of community engagement that was democratic and comprehensive. Through a combination of community meetings, visits to surrounding schools and select one-on-one meetings, neighborhood stakeholders were given the opportunity to ask questions, discuss a variety of school components and indicate preferences through formal voting.
The name "West Adams Preparatory High School" was finally selected after weigh-in from almost 400 community stakeholders. Through dozens of community meetings, other primary attributes of the school were also decided upon such as the school's mascot, colors, crest, small-school names, and many school-wide policies (e.g., regarding school uniforms).
West Adams Prep features six small schools, each with its own collegiate style theme, where students enjoy intensive study within a focused program as well as closer relationships with teachers and students. In addition, students receive all the advantages of a large comprehensive high school including a wide variety of classes, sports, clubs and activities, and state of the art facilities.
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- Students choose to enroll in one of six small schools, each with its own academic focus:
- School of Business & Enterprise
- School of Performing Arts & Literature
- School of Science & Technology
- School of Invention, Design, Engineering & Architecture
- School of Education & International Studies
- School of Media, Film & Art
- Every student participates in a 30-minute Advisory with the same teacher for all four years
- Fashionable, student-designed school uniforms promote a safe environment and college preparatory culture
- Every administrator teaches a course (Even the principal teaches
Algebra 2.)
- The Parent/Community Center is the hub for active collaboration between parents and community partners
- The 7 to 7 program creates a longer school day that offers enrichment opportunities for students and families before and after school
- Over 40 community partners work alongside West Adams Prep to serve the whole needs of students and families
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- One of the highest attendance rates among Los Angeles public schools
- One of the best examples of uniform implementation of any urban public high school in the nation
- Almost all 1128 students in the 9th grade class visited a local
college campus
- Every senior of this year's first senior class has completed a next
steps plan
- Over half the entire student population participates in after school activities
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