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First Class Graduates From Learning Centers Almost All Will Head For College FOUR YEARS AGO EDUCATION REFORMERS in Los Angeles launched an ambitious experiment, the Los Angeles Learning Centers. Their goal was to create K-12 learning communities characterized by quality teaching at well organized and managed campuses that are strongly supported by their communities. This week that effort paid off as the first graduates of the Learning Centers received their diplomas. Virtually all of the Learning Center graduates at the Elizabeth and Foshay Learning Center sites will head for college. The first Learning Centers' graduating class was made up of 106 students who attended school at either the Foshay campus in south central Los Angeles or the Elizabeth campus in Cudahy. Nearly all of these students in both schools attended their respective Learning Centers for all four years of high school. At both sites, the 12th graders had an extremely high attendance rate, few "drop outs," and strong grade-point averages. "We are tremendously excited about the performance of the first graduating class of the Learning Centers," says project director Greta Pruitt. "While it is impossible to point to any one factor, and far too early to declare the Learning Center design an unqualified success, I think the results we see in this first class of graduates speak volumes about the effectiveness of a small high school within a school where teachers know the kids and have the time and opportunity to provide them quality instruction and the attention and support they need." Students from Foshay received their diplomas earlier this week before friends and family during ceremonies at USC. Foshay had 61 seniors graduate from the original ninth-grade class of 72 students. (Seven of the original group moved out of the Los Angeles area. Only four members of the original class are failing to graduate.) The top 24 students in the Foshay graduating class are choosing four-year colleges. The next 30 students took the entrance test to Santa Monica College and all 30 scored at the 12th-grade level or above in language arts. Of the 61 Foshay graduates, 30 will attend a community college, 19 a California state university, eight will attend a University of California school and four have been accepted to private colleges. Jossette Nisttahutz presided over the graduation ceremonies as valedictorian while Pamojah Johnson was honored as salutatorian. Both students have grade point averages above 4.0 due to their particpation in Advanced Placement classes. Other student speakers included Monica Morales, Omar Iniquez and Nancy Avalos. Foshay Principal Howard Lappin addressed the graduating class as keynote speaker. Elizabeth seniors will graduate June 26 at Club Portrero in Cudahy. Forty-five students are graduating from Elizabeth. Of the 45 graduating seniors, 16 will attend a community college, 18 a California state university, six a University of California school, three private universities, two will join the U.S. Military and one will attend a technical trade school. Elizabeth's Valedictorian will be Sonya Acosta and Cariel Ledezma will serve as salutatorian. Senior M. David Lopez will also speak on behalf of the 1997 graduating class. "It is important to note that 14% of the students at Foshay and 12% of the students at Elizabeth are planning to attend the University of California," says Pruitt. Those numbers are outstanding and place those schools among the top 25% of all schools as measured by the recent High Schools Performance report by the California Department of Education. The Los Angeles Learning Centers were created in 1991 through a joint project of the Los Angeles Unified School District, United Teachers Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Educational Partnership with funding from the New American Schools Development Corporation. The Learning Center design provides a comprehensive K-12 model for urban schools and calls for significant changes in curriculum and instruction, school management and governance, and how schools address the health and well being of students to overcome barriers to student learning. The first Los Angeles Learning Center was launched at Elizabeth Street School in Cudahy, followed by a second Learning Center at Foshay Middle School in south central Los Angeles. Additional efforts to expand the Learning Centers are underway at Corona Avenue Elementary in Cudahy and at the 32nd Street Magnet School in south central Los Angeles.