After more than 20 years, 10,000 students, and countless lives changed, Liza Bercovici stepped down last year as executive director of Gabriella Charter Schools — a network she built from heartbreak.  In 1999, Bercovici lost her daughter Gabriella, 13, in a tragic bike accident while the family was on vacation in Grand Teton National Park....

Los Angeles Unified School District families and educators are grappling with the impact of federal immigration policies as increased U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity has left many living in fear. Reports of students skipping school due to concerns over immigration enforcement have raised alarms, with district officials warning declining attendance could have long-term...

At John C. Fremont High School STEAM Magnet in hardscrabble South Central Los Angeles, students face an uphill battle against social and economic hardship, with violence from the neighborhood sometimes filtering onto campus.  This school year Fremont High has seen security-related lockdowns on a nearly a monthly basis, including an incident at the beginning of...

The future of LA Unified School District’s signature program for Black students is in question after a federal civil rights complaint prompted changes to its efforts. This summer LAUSD overhauled its $120 million Black Student Achievement Program after a Virginia-based advocacy group Parents Defending Education filed a complaint challenging its policies related to race-based admissions...

Parents of students in the Los Angeles Unified school district are raising concerns after four guns were found on campuses and a stabbing left a student in serious condition —  all within the first three weeks of school.  The troubling start to the school year comes amid a rise in violence at LA Unified schools...

For most students, having clean clothes to wear to school is not a problem.  But for many families at 112th St. S.T.E.A.M. Academy in Watts, a pair of clean pants and a shirt is such a struggle that it has become one of the main contributors to chronic absenteeism, which is when students miss 15...

Whenever April Heinz’s grown children come back to Los Angeles for a visit, there is one item they crave — LA Unified’s legendary coffee cake. “They’re now graduated and in college…they came back [for] summer break. I had a couple of slices of coffee cake for them, and they were like, ‘Oh my gosh!’… because,...

Emily Juarez no longer feels safe letting her two older children ride public transportation or walk to their LA Unified school after an increase in reports of violence near district campuses. “I stopped maybe a couple of weeks ago,” Juarez said last month. “I see the stuff that’s happening. I do see the news and...

Los Angeles Unified students will soon have the chance to run a food truck on the city’s streets, showcasing the best of their cooking skills while learning to run their own business.  Earlier this year, LAUSD superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced the district’s new food truck program in collaboration with software company Intuit and Roy Choi,...

Second-grade teacher Nelly Cristales says her LAUSD school has developed a unique way to combat chronic absenteeism — competition. At 32nd Street School near University Park in East Los Angeles, a big, bright trophy goes to the class with the least absences and latenesses — and Cristales’ students are eager to win. “My kids are...