Green Dot Public Schools

Green Dot is a nonprofit organization, which operates ten public schools in Los Angeles. The organization was founded by Steve Barr in 1999. The schools Green Dot operates are each named "Animo", the Spanish word for rigor and strength. The graduation rates of schools operated by Green Dot are higher than those of the Los Angeles Unified School District, with 80% of students graduating from Animo schools, compared to 47% for LAUSD. In 2006, Green Dot opened 5 charter schools within the attendance area of Los Angeles' troubled Jefferson High School. In 2008, a majority of permanent teachers at Locke High School voted to reconstitute the under performing school as a Green Dot Charter School. . [cite web|url=http://www.greendotpublicschools.org/results/|title=Green Dot Public Schools Results]

chool Results

Green Dot is the only organization with a proven track record of successfully serving secondary studentsFact|date=March 2008, the highest need student population of Los AngelesFact|date=March 2008. All ten schools are successfully serving students who have traditionally struggled in the public school system. The five Green Dot schools opened prior to 2006 are achieving far greater results than comparable schools on all key metrics.

Graduation and College Acceptance Rates

Only two Green Dot schools have had graduating classes to date, and both have produced outstanding results: 79% and 61% of the Class of 2006 from Animo Inglewood and Animo Leadership, respectively, are attending a four-year university in Fall 2006. The graduation rates from these two schools also significantly outpace those of local school districts. Recently, all Animo schools have increased their graduation percentages, and have had students accepted to top colleges across the country, including Ivy Leagues.

Academic Performance Indicator Analysis

The California Department of Education (CDE) calculates an Academic Performance Indicator (API) score for each school in the state. The API score summarizes a school district's or a school's performance on the 2006 STAR and CAHSEE (high school exit exam) standardized exams (CA Dept of Education API Website). The CDE also releases school rankings based on these API scores. The Similar Schools Rank compares the performance of a school to the 100 schools most similar to it based on school demographics, and ranks schools on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = worst, 10 = best). The latest 2006 API scores show Green Dot schools significantly outperforming comparable school districts.Fact|date=December 2007

Green Dot has been able to achieve all these successes with students who have very similar backgrounds to those at comparable schools in the same neighborhoods, with respect to ethnicity, income, proficiency levels in English, etc.

Expanding

Currently, Green Dot is working on Locke High School in Los Angeles. In the process too is an Animo in the Bronx, New York, which is set to open next year.

External links

* [http://www.greendotpublicschools.org/ Green Dot Public Schools website]

References