Board Approves 1st Charter Middle School in Valley

NORTH HILLS — The Los Angeles Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a charter middle school in Lake View Terrace, the first such school in the San Fernando Valley and the third in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Community Charter Middle School is due to open in late July with 100 sixth-grade students in 4,200 square feet of former medical suites near Lake View Terrace Hospital. By 2001, the school is expected to have 300 sixth- through eighth-graders.

Two weeks ago, a district committee recommended that the board approve the school proposal spearheaded by Jackie Elliot, a former teacher, administrator and health educator who left Montague Charter Academy in Pacoima in January to work full time on opening a new middle school.

“Community Charter Middle School has a clear focus on curriculum and instruction, and a clear focus on engaging the community it serves,” said Judy Burton, an assistant superintendent in the school district’s reform office.

The board made the decision at a meeting at Francisco Sepulveda Middle School.

About 40 charter schools have opened in the state during the last year, according to the California Department of Education. In exchange for pledges of higher student achievement, charter schools operate outside most state and school district guidelines and control finances and curriculum.

For more than two years, Elliot has developed plans for the school, which would integrate reading and writing skills into science and social studies classes, require parents to volunteer and possibly extend the school day to include tutoring and lessons.

Drawing upon a number of studies on the needs of middle school students, Elliot said she and the school’s small staff would nurture the youths and try to instill the self-worth needed to be successful in high school and college, while warning about such dangers as gangs, drugs and sexual promiscuity.

“Middle school is often the last chance we have with kids,” said Elliot, 49, of West Hills. “It has been my dream to open this school. A lot of people have worked hard.”

Elliot has secured state and private grants, a partnership with Cal State Northridge and about 200 signatures of parents interested in sending their children to the school.

Christina Quezada, 34, of Pacoima wants her fifth-grade son to attend the charter school next year. With its small student body, “we’ll know if our children are going down the wrong path,” Quezada said.

Elliot said she hopes the school, at 11500 Eldridge Ave., will draw students from the three elementary schools in the northeast Valley.

“We are excited about working together, said Joseph Lucente, co-director of Fenton Avenue Charter School, an elementary school within walking distance of Community Charter Middle School.

One of Elliot’s first tasks will be to screen and assess students who scored at or below the 30th percentile on the Stanford 9 standardized achievement test. CSUN’s school psychologists, volunteering their time, will then examine neurological factors, such as motor development maturity and spatial organization, that could be linked to learning difficulties.

“I’m excited,” Elliot said. “I’m ready to begin.”