Jan 28, 2008 3:56 PM

UES to open schools in low-income neighborhoods

UCLA’s Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School (UES) plans to open campuses in inner-city, low-income Los Angeles neighborhoods. Administrators hope to begin hiring teachers this spring in preparation for opening the first school in September 2009.

The new sites will enable UES to serve families the school most wants to reach — those who may never, because of finances or logistics, have the opportunity or ability for their children to attend classes in Westwood, said UES Principal Jim Kennedy.

Because UES is the laboratory school of the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, UES campuses will enable partnerships that join together the strengths and priorities of the communities with the resources and expertise of the university, he said.

UES is a multi-age, non-graded elementary school, serving children ages 4 through 12 with a program designed to facilitate inquiry, stimulate creativity and increase student engagement. Currently, the plan is to launch one school in 2009, followed by a second in 2010. Each campus will begin with 20 4-year-olds and 20 5-year-olds. With each subsequent year, UES plans to enroll 20 4-year-olds until the two campuses have 200 students each (in the equivalent of pre-K through eighth grade). The locations of the schools have not yet been determined.

Families in the inner city would enroll their children in UES and have UES teachers, but the children would attend class closer to their homes, in neighborhoods such as Pico Union or South Los Angeles.

The schools will be funded through private donations. Partial or full financial aid will be available to all students (tuition at the Westwood school is $11,650 annually).

Kennedy, who holds both master's and doctorate degrees in education from UCLA, joined UES as principal last July. He has extensive experience in working with inner-city schools, including having served as principal of Magnolia Elementary School, a public school in downtown L.A. that serves predominantly low-income families.

"Every day I had a hand in the important, difficult issues we’re faced with in public schools," Kennedy said.

Kennedy consulted with UES parents, teachers and staff, as well as with GSE&IS faculty and staff, to develop a list of priorities to strengthen how UES operates. Among the things made clear in this process, he said, was the potential for the school to expand its influence.

"With the research and outreach work already happening at UES, being part of UCLA and having the resources of the broader UES community, there's tremendous opportunity to move the school's work out into the city with greater impact," he said.

"The new UES campuses will allow the school to increase its diversity and have a direct impact on many of the most difficult challenges facing public schools, such as poverty, students who are learning English as a second language, and the persistent achievement gap that exists among student groups," Kennedy wrote in the UES newsletter. "I'm excited to be able to help UES move forward in being at the leading edge of addressing the challenges that urban schools face," he added.

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