A Dream for Our Community
One morning in 2004, a group of parents who were casually gathered at a neighbor’s home for coffee and conversation discovered that they shared a common dream: a dream of a public school, in their community, that used a powerful learning model, that would not only benefit their own children, but those of the entire community, for today and for years to come. One parent, Marta Alcumbrac, made the bold statement, “Let’s build that school!”
Within weeks, other neighbors, parents, community organizations, and educational partners joined in the enthusiastic push to turn this dream into a reality. Individuals, such as George Abrams, were tapped to create a steering committee, which in turn recruited a group of 28 Founding Families. These families would become the back upon which the school was built, offering professional services, community organizing and a great deal of hands-on, sometimes difficult work to help shape this exciting new school.
By June 13, 2006 the Los Angeles Unified School District officially approved the charter for this unique project-based, arts-oriented school. And on September 5, 2006 the Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts (LFCSA) opened its doors to 120 kindergarteners and first-grade students at its first temporary site, the former St. Ambrose School on Fairfax Avenue in West Hollywood.
The dream had become a living, growing, forward-reaching reality.
Living the Dream
Although today, the Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts is sharing a space with Selma Elementary School in Hollywood, our own new learning space is on the horizon. And while we now serve nearly 300 kindergarten through fourth-grade students for the 2009-2010 school year, each year we will continue to add a grade level up until we reach the sixth grade.
The Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts looks forward to continuing our constant move forward to better serve the students who are part of our ranks as well as those who are part of our future.
