McKenna Community Alert

I am honored and humbled by the privilege of serving as your Superintendent and am incredibly inspired by the students, employees, families, board members and community members who have welcomed me to Los Angeles Unified with warmth and grace. I have already visited dozens of schools, and with every visit, I can feel the energy and excitement of learning taking place in our classrooms. I am here to accelerate the opportunities for our students to excel, thrive and reach their full academic potential.

The Los Angeles Unified Board of Education has established solid goals targeting literacy and numeracy, graduation rates, post-secondary success, as well as social and emotional needs of our students and our workforce. My work is to build upon these goals and expand the impact of this District, ramping up efforts and refining our toolkits to optimize our response to future realities not yet realized. I expect there to be challenges, but I am not aware of any school district or institution that has effectively transitioned from good to great without some degree of tension, an immense effort and significant engagement with invested stakeholders. This is especially true as we navigate a recovery period that is already in motion, driven by our dedicated employees and families who have shouldered the difficulties of learning during the pandemic with immense courage and grit.

This action plan complements the powerful work already underway at Los Angeles Unified. To strategically expand high-quality academic opportunities, I have structured a 100-Day Plan deeply influenced by our stakeholders. The 100-Day Plan centers around four key tasks: learn, assess, communicate and act. These tasks will lay the foundations for the forthcoming Strategic Plan, illustrating a vibrant and robust picture of success at Los Angeles Unified.

It is time for us to intensify the focus on what is most important to our students, and those who support them every single day, to inspire a theory of action that turns the impossible into the inevitable for everyone in the Los Angeles Unified family. One of the clearest lessons that I have learned throughout my career is that standing with reason, living by science and following the direction of data – despite pushback – results in an outcome around which a community can always rally. Today, we are living through times where that is especially true.

My promise to Los Angeles, to our students and families, to this board, to this team of educators, to the civic, business and philanthropic community and our labor partners, is that you can count on me to meet you wherever you currently stand. I am listening. Together, we’ll take our students to where they need to be, focusing our attention on unapologetically bridging the achievement gap and emboldening our community to show up, step up and speak up in support of one another.

Thank you so much for the very warm welcome to this District, and also to Los Angeles. Let’s get to work.

Sincerely,

Alberto M. Carvalho
Superintendent

The 2022 Superbowl-bound Los Angeles Rams generously awarded $2,500 academic grants to the football programs at Alexander Hamilton High School (Hamilton High) and Washington Preparatory High School (Washington Prep), both schools in Local District West. These schools were winners of the 5th Annual L.A. Rams Academic Challenge.

Hamilton High Yankees won the overall competition for the highest grade-point-average (GPA) achieving a 3.10 team GPA. While across town, Washington Prep Generals won the most improved GPA, increasing their GPA by 0.48 points to achieve a 2.85 team GPA. Both schools will receive a $2,500 grant for each of their football programs.

This was an academic challenge of 12 L.A.U.S.D. football teams competing against each other on a different type of playing field: in the classroom. The 2021 high schools were: Contreras, Crenshaw, Dorsey, East Valley, Franklin, Hamilton, Marshall, Mendez, Narbonne, Poly, Santee, Sylmar, and Washington. Overall, the 12 participating schools went up in GPA from 2.74 to 2.89, an overall increase of 0.15 points.

“Football is the ultimate team sport. The Academic Challenge provides players the opportunity to work together and achieve success collectively on the field and in the classroom. Through the vehicle of football, we can emphasize the importance of education, and inspire students across the district to always give their best,” said Johnathan Franklin, Los Angeles Unified Alumni, and Director of Social Justice and Football Development for the Los Angeles Rams.

“I am proud of the scholar-athletes at Hamilton and Washington Prep High Schools for their performance in the classroom and on the field. The students are to be commended for their ability to balance their school and athletic schedules,” said Los Angeles Unified District 1 Board Member Dr. George J. McKenna.