This story was originally published on CalMatters. Almost 20 years ago a San Diego nonprofit created a preschool to focus on the “little guys” — children who experience domestic violence and other serious traumatic events before kindergarten. Today, Mi Escuelita is still going strong and it’s something of a model in showing other schools how...

This story was originally published by EdSource. Sign up for their daily newsletter. When students walk into Gina Gray’s English classroom in Middle College High School on any given testing day, she greets them with encouragement: “Tap into your genius. You have it,” Gray reminds the 11th graders. “Just do your best. … All we can ask...

GARDENA, Calif. — Two weeks into the new school year, Principal Sherree Lewis-DeVaughn eagerly showed off improvements to 135th Elementary School, where she’s been principal since 2022. A painter prepped the side of a classroom building at the school for a new mural — smiling dragons in caps and gowns, and the district slogan: “Ready...

This story was originally published on EdSource A new survey paints a difficult but optimistic picture of California’s youth.  About 94% of young people in the state said they experience regular mental health challenges — up from 87% in 2023, with one-third reporting their mental health as “fair” or “poor,” according to a new report by Blue Shield...

This story was originally published on EdSource. The Los Angeles Unified School District’s school board approved a new employment agreement for Superintendent Alberto Carvalho at Tuesday’s board meeting, weeks after unanimously reappointing him.  Carvalho said during the Sept. 17 meeting that he would not accept any salary increases or additional benefits, and the agreement approved by the board...

In a win for the nation’s second-largest school district, Los Angeles Unified students bounced back from the pandemic, posting big gains on state reading and math tests.  L.A. Unified surpassed pre-pandemic math, reading and science levels on 2024-25 state test scores released Thursday and closed the gap with the rest of California, even as the...

This story was originally published on EdSource. On a sunny Tuesday morning, students, parents and community members walked atop the bluffs alongside charred foliage and barren lots, back to Marquez Charter Elementary — almost nine months after the Palisades fire ravaged the school site and surrounding region, sparing only three classrooms in its wake.  For...

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. This fall, every high school in California was supposed to offer ethnic studies — a one-semester class focused on the struggles and triumphs of marginalized communities. But the class appears stalled, at least for now, after the state budget omitted funding for it...

As a new school year begins, many students — especially students of color, LGBTQ youth, and children in immigrant and mixed-status families — are carrying more than just the weight of academic expectations. They are navigating a world that feels increasingly unsafe, where political threats, discrimination and immigration enforcement have become part of their daily...

For Alicia Albek, a home-based child care provider in Los Angeles, Jan. 7 began like a typical Tuesday. She opened her child care program, Alicia’s Place, at 8 a.m. as she had for almost 30 years. Six infants and toddlers arrived ready to play and learn. Around 10:30 a.m., Albek received a call from a...