U.S. News & World Report Ranks Venice High Schools

The publication used test scores, student-to-teacher ratios and college readiness to measure Venice high schools against others in California and the U.S.

Animo Venice Charter High School is one of the top 100 high schools in California, according to U.S. News & World Report. The online news publication released its annual list Tuesday of the "Best High Schools" in the country. According to the report, the rankings are developed in conjunction with the Washington-based American Institutes for Research and are determined by measuring math and English proficiency, college readiness and the ratio of students to teachers. Nearly 22,000 schools were analyzed and 2009-2010 data was used to determine the rankings. The report ranks Venice high schools against schools throughout California as well as across the country. National ranking: No. 458 California Ranking: No. 86 College Readiness Index: 47.…

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Playa Vista Takes on LAUSD

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1,000 Sign Petition Supporting Westside Subway

"We Do Our Part LA" wants Metro to build the Westside Subway Extension, regardless of whether it goes under Beverly Hills High School.

A coalition of business organizations, labor unions and community activists known as We Do Our Part LA has started a petition calling on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to move forward with its plans for the Westside Subway Extension. The petition reads: As of Sunday the petition has more than 1,000 signatures, according to Lisa Cohen of We Do Our Part LA. "The MTA is in the process of holding hearings about the proposed Westside Subway Extension project, which the We Do Our Part coalition strongly supports," Cohen said. "This is exactly the kind of infrastructure project the coalition believes can put people back to work, get the economy going and benefit L.A. in the long run." The Westside Subway Extension would expand the …

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Santa Monica College Students Pepper-Sprayed

College officials are investigating campus police's reaction to students who disrupted a Board of Trustees meeting upset over a highly controversial plan to offer pricier classes.

Campus police pepper-sprayed as many as 30 Santa Monica College students Tuesday night as they disrupted a meeting of the Board of Trustees, which is moving forward with a controversial plan to offer a second tier of classes not subsidized by the state. Santa Monica College officials said they are investigating the incident. MEETING DISRUPTION REGRETTABLE, SUPERINTENDENT SAYS More than 100 outraged students interrupted the meeting with shouts of "shame on you!" directed at the trustees. Campus police tried to limit the number of students inside the board meeting room to about a dozen while many more watched live video from an adjacent overflow room. Loud chants and yells from a group that tried to storm the board meeting room—and the …

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Braddock Drive Elementary Named California Distinguished School

The school, located in Del Rey, will be honored for its success in narrowing the achievement gap and demonstrating educational excellence.

Braddock Drive Elementary School, in Del Rey, will be honored as a 2012 California Distinguished School according to the State Superintendent of Public Education Tom Torkalson. Torkalson’s office issued a press release yesterday citing 387 schools statewide as winners of the prestigious award. Of those 96 were in Los Angeles County and 42 were in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The program identifies and honors those schools that have demonstrated educational excellence for all students and progress in narrowing the achievement gap, according to the press release. To be invited to apply for Distinguished School recognition, schools must meet federal and state accountability measures based on the Elementary and Secondary Education …

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LAUSD Hires Social Media Director

A former Los Angeles television reporter relaunches the district's Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Junior Lifeguard Training: Sign-up Now

Mira Costa's water polo and swim team members are teaching classes to help kids qualify for Junior Lifeguards program. Sign up now. Limited space available.

Space is limited in programs designed to help potential and returning Junior Lifeguards pass their entrance tests. Junior Lifeguards "is designed to instruct youth (ages 9 through 17) in beach and ocean skills. The five-week program provides instruction in water safety, swimming, body surfing, surfing, physical conditioning, competition skills, first aid, lifesaving, rescue techniques, CPR and the use of professional lifesaving equipment," according to a County of Los Angeles Fire Department website. Junior Lifeguard participants must either pass a swim test to join the program for the first time or pass a conditioning workout if they are a returning guard. Under the supervision of coach Jon Reichardt, the training classes will be taught …

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LAUSD Board Rejects Ocean Charter Facility on Walgrove Elementary Campus

The LAUSD's Board of Education voted against a proposal that would've allowed Ocean Charter School to build a permanent facility on the campus of Walgrove Elementary School.

The board of the Los Angeles Unified School District on Tuesday voted 4-3 against a proposal to allow a charter school to build and operate a facility on the Walgrove Elementary School campus and also addressed major issues ranging from a $390 million budget deficit to placing a parcel tax on the November ballot that calls for a $298 per year tax on property owners for five years. The Board of Education's actions occurred while a raucous crowd of thousands of demonstrators protested on the streets against threatened cuts to adult education, early education and arts education for elementary school students. The protesters prompted the block-long closure of Beaudry Avenue in front of the school board's main entrance as they held up signs …

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School Board Members Want Faster Termination of Accused Teachers

The LAUSD board will vote on the resolution today.

Three Los Angeles Unified board members will ask their colleagues today to support changes they say would make it faster and cheaper for the school district to fire teachers and notify parents sooner when an educator has been charged with a crime. The proposals by board members Tamar Galatzan and Nury Martinez -- and backed by board President Monica Garcia -- come in response to a series of sexual abuse allegations against 11 LAUSD employees, including Mark Berndt, a Miramonte Elementary School teacher accused of molesting students in his classroom over a period of more than a decade. Another teacher at Telfair Elementary School in Pacoima, Paul Chapel III, was arrested last fall and charged with 16 counts of sexual abuse of four children…

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