CAMPAIGN TO REACH 2,000 HOMES OF PARTNERSHIP SCHOOL FAMILIES

Partnership to Open Doors at Three Additional Schools for 2010-2011School Year

August 9, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Mayor Villaraigosa today launched a massive canvassing operation to reach over 2,000 families of students enrolled in Markham Middle School and other Partnership Schools.  The Mayor welcomed students and their parents to the Partnership community and spoke with them about supporting student achievement by becoming more involved in local neighborhood schools.

“Although the beginning of the school year is over a month away, it’s never too early for families to start thinking about how they can be more involved in their children’s education,” Mayor Villaraigosa said.  “Our goal this month is to reach 2,000 families and inform them of the importance of being actively engaged in our schools.  Turning around our schools is as much about parent engagement as it is about securing funding and hiring great teachers.”

Today at Markham Middle School, the Mayor addressed students, families, faculty, staff, and other community members at a pep rally to launch the door-to-door neighborhood canvass.

“We all have an important role to play in ensuring that our children have successful academic careers,” Mayor Villaraigosa said.  “We need our schools — and most importantly, we need our students — to be surrounded by a community that is cheering them on, every single day,” the Mayor added.

The door-knocking efforts will reach over 2,000 Partnership families and will continue throughout the month in conjunction with a phone-bank campaign and other community celebrations to kick-off the 2010-2011 school year.

Earlier this year, the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools won competitive bids to assume management of two additional schools: Carver Middle School and Griffith-Joyner Elementary.  This fall, the Partnership will also open the doors to a brand new school, Central Region Elementary School #18.

The Partnership for Los Angeles Schools is a unique collaboration between the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Unified School District to address Los Angeles’ lowest performing schools and create a model for urban school reform.  Today, it is one of the largest public school turnaround projects in the nation, serving nearly 20,000 students across 21 schools in some of the City’s most at-risk communities.

MAYOR’S PRESS CONTACT:
Arielle Goren (213) 978-0741