Transforming School Culture, Improving Student Achievement at Harmony Elementary: In 2003, One LA - IAF Central Leadership Committee member and principal Robert Cordova opened a new school in South Los Angeles, Harmony Elementary. Mr. Cordova had worked with One LA - IAF in his previous school, and sought to integrate organizing principles into the new school's culture from its inception. Teachers were trained to conduct house meetings and one on one meetings, back to school nights were organized around house meetings and parents began a series of conversations about safety issues surrounding the school. By its third year, classrooms with teachers and parents involved in the organizing posted some of the highest gains in test scores in their local district. Return to top.
Eliminating Disparity in Resources by Restructuring LAUSD Funding: In 2001, parents at Trinity Elementary learned that students on track B, the track that began in early summer in year-round schools, were not receiving intervention funds for timely tutoring and supplemental assistance. If a student was on track B, the funding for intercession and supplemental tutoring was withheld until four months into the school year, when the budget for the entire district, based on the traditional calendar, was allocated. One LA - IAF schools and congregations organized to successfully alter the budget timetable of LAUSD to ensure intervention funding for Track B was made available at the beginning of Track B's school year, positively impacting the lives of 270,000 students. The fifth grade classrooms at Trinity, whose parents and teachers had spearheaded the effort, posted the largest gains in test scores of any fifth grade in the entire school district. Return to top.
Ensuring a Healthy School Environment at Park Avenue Elementary: In 2001, parents and teachers at Park Avenue noticed a thick black substance surfacing through the cracks of the school's playground. After initial inspections, district personnel declared that the substance caused no safety hazard. After several students became ill with respiratory problems and two pregnant teachers miscarried, a team of parents and teachers began organizing with One LA-IAF (then known as LA Metro-IAF) to address the environmental problems in the school. They learned that the school was built over an old chemical plant whose materials had turned toxic. Parents and teachers reached out to congregations in the area, challenged LAUSD and secured an agreement to move all of the students from the school site and to devote $14 million to the clean-up effort. Once on the new school grounds, parents and teachers continued organizing and acquired agreements from the district for numerous school renovations. New air conditioners, carpets, desks and a new paint surface were all included in the school renovation effort. In 2003, students moved back to their school - a building that thanks to their efforts was now renovated, healthy and beautiful. Return to top.
Improving Nutrition at Miles Avenue Elementary: In 2005, teachers and parents at Miles Elementary began a series of house meetings. During those conversations, stories of the cafeteria at Miles surfaced: Parents spoke of their children complaining of under-ripe or rotten fruit, of greasy pizza and of "blue" hotdogs. The school's core team decided to launch an effort to improve the quality of food in the cafeteria. The core organizing team discovered that one obstacle to improving Miles' food options was the size of the school. Miles Avenue is one of the largest elementary schools in the country, with more than 2,000 students. With such large numbers of children, the cafeteria was unable to offer anything other than a limited menu, with items such as nachos, pizza and hot dogs that could be delivered quickly. Miles Avenue successfully organized to renovate the school cafeteria in order to ensure that more students could be served at any given time and allow for the distribution of healthier food.
In addition, the school district began a taste-testing program with Miles Avenue students, working with several classes to test out new menu options. These menu options, aimed towards creating healthier options for children, are now available to all students in the district. Return to top.
Ensuring Clean Air in Sun Valley and Fernangeles Elementary: The Bradley Landfill, located in Sun Valley in the North East San Fernando Valley, is one of the city's two major landfills. Garbage from businesses and apartment buildings throughout Los Angeles - up to 10,000 tons a day - ends up at Bradley. In 2002, One LA - IAF leaders at Fernangeles Elementary in Sun Valley began a series of house meetings centered around health concerns in their community, having discovered that asthma rates in their neighborhood were three times the county average. In preliminary research into the causes of these health problems, parents and teachers learned that Waste Management, the operators of Bradley Landfill, were applying for a permit to increase the height of the landfill. Parents, teachers and administrators at Fernangeles, along with families from congregations throughout the neighborhood began organizing to ensure that their community was no longer the dumping ground for the city of Los Angeles.
Since then, One LA - IAF has won several victories alleviating the environmental hazards brought by the landfill, including securing a commitment from the city to install air-quality testing devices throughout the neighborhood and a commitment to close Bradley and begin shipping waste out of Los Angeles County. In reaction to One LA - IAF's organizing, Waste Management is developing a community reinvestment program and has planted numerous trees throughout Sun Valley. The dump itself is now surrounded with vegetation.
One LA - IAF leaders are currently in negotiation to ensure that the transfer station built to move waste from Sun Valley outside of the county is constructed in a manner that ensures minimal environmental impact on the region. In addition, leaders are working to limit the emissions produced by the garbage trucks that will continue to move through the neighborhood. Return to top.
For press on the work in Sun Valley, click here.