![Sujana and a friend walk home from the RFK Community Schools Campus. “The teachers have indoctrinated us to be empathetic to all people [since middle school],” said Sujana.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b9feea07e3c3a3714e2ec6c/1721622349277-KQMKQR0WSXEKUUPI5UFY/image-asset.jpeg)
Kaelin, a student in the 10th grade, prepares to participate in a lab during Chemistry class at the UCLA Community School in Los Angeles, California; Kaelin has been a student at UCLA Community School since the 5th grade.
Kaelin walks down the stairs from the library. Located in Koreatown, one of California’s most densely populated neighborhoods, UCLA-CS serves a large immigrant population from transitional kindergarten through 12th grade. The school serves over 900 students.
Kaelin and friend, Selima, play around during “nutrition,” a time to have a snack and socialize. “I like how everyone is connected,” said Kaelin. “I feel like everyone knows each other.” Each grade at the UCLA Community School has about 100 students. “My grade is an uplifting community.”
Kaelin interacts with Zoey, an elementary school student, who Kaelin knows from a program where high school students read to younger students. UCLA-CS opened in 2009 as part of a grassroots campaign to relieve overcrowding at neighboring schools. The school is one of six community schools that compose the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools, located on the former site of the historic Ambassador Hotel.
Students gather for lunch at the UCLA Community School in Los Angeles, California.
Kaelin attends a Geometry class.
Kaelin, a student in the 10th grade, and Alex, a student in the 12th grade, during tennis club. “You build connection through playing a sport,” said Kaelin. “You are there for the same reason.”
Kaelin, a student in the 10th grade, performs an experiment during Chemistry. “My teachers are actually going to help me succeed,” said Kaelin. “They will do everything to make sure,” she continued, citing that even previous teachers continue to reach out to her.
Kaelin, a student in the 10th grade, sits in Spanish class; holds up a bouquet of roses that were delivered to students for their mothers on Mother’s Day. UCLA-CS is a dual language school. In Grades 9–12, both new and continuing students enroll in the pathway of Spanish courses: Spanish 1–4, Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish Language, and AP Spanish Literature. About 4 in 10 students complete the requirements to earn the California State Seal of Bi-literacy upon graduation.
Tala and Semila, students in the 10th grade, lean on each other during Chemistry class, as Kaelin and Vanessa, who are also students in the 10th grade, complete a lab. “I feel like I’ve known everyone for so long,” said Kaelin. “It feels like a family. I feel close to my teachers and I go to them for things I’d go to my parents for.”
Semiha, a student in the 10th grade, interacts with Deborah Wang, a Science teacher, during a Chemistry lab. “I appreciate that the administration treats teachers as staff and professionals…we are willing to give it our all,” said Deborah Wang, a Science teacher at the school.
Sujana and Kaelin stand on stage with students and teachers for Teacher Appreciation during an assembly in the former Cocoanut Grove Nightclub that is now an auditorium.
Davide, a student in the 11th grade, grips his guitar after a performance in the Cocoanut Grove for an assembly for Research Seminar presentations at the UCLA Community School in Los Angeles, California. The school uses its seminar program as a creative way to expand course offerings for students. Davide, who emigrated from El Salvador, performed music in Spanish as part of a Latin Acting Ensemble. Almost all students (95%) report that they use a language other than English to communicate with their families.
Posters displayed during Parents’ Night encourage both students and parents to check in with themselves emotionally. “All of the teachers are very welcoming and helpful,” said Emily, a senior at the school. “Most of them are understanding like with mental health—if we need a break. A bad kid is a kid who doesn’t get the attention he needs. Here, we get the attention.”
Flags displayed in a History classroom.
Elementary school students gather on the ground floor, as high school students walk to class above them at the UCLA Community School.
Sujana, a student in the 11th grade, stands in the library and prepares to give a tour of the campus. The UCLA Community School is housed in the former Ambassador Hotel where Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968. “Most of the students, obviously, know the assassination happened on school grounds and what not. But I feel like especially with the murals, that kind of helps build a vibrant community where we acknowledge that that really tragic event happened at our school, but we can grow from that and we can create or turn that into a more communal kind of area where people are more inclusive and supportive, accepting,” said Sujana.
Sujana waits for parents and students to arrive in a classroom at Parent’s Night. “Our school fosters or has this kind of college-going culture where they really encourage students to go to college,” said Sujana. “Whether that's like getting a two year degree or a four year degree, they kind of focus a lot on academics… I think the school kind of serves to encourage those students who otherwise might not be encouraged from, like their family or their own communities, to attend college.” Sujana envisions potentially studying law after high school.
Sujana draws with a fellow member of the Student Advisory Council; here, they are making posters about countries reflected in students’ backgrounds in honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Month. Speaking about the school being located in Koreatown, “This neighborhood is mostly like immigrants, right? It’s so nice…having a school where your cultures are celebrated and they're kind of uplifted, instead of the students all being seen as homogenous.”
Sujana stands in an office with other high school students before participating as a volunteer at Parent’s Night. Sujana emigrated to the United States from Bangladesh with her parents and sister when she was five years old; she has attended UCLA Community School since kindergarten.
Sujana and a friend walk home from the RFK Community Schools Campus. “The teachers have indoctrinated us to be empathetic to all people [since middle school],” said Sujana.
Sujana, a student in the 11th grade, who works as a teacher’s assistant in the afterschool program, embraces students at the UCLA Community School in Los Angeles, California.
Sujana, a student in the 11th grade, who works as a teacher’s assistant in the afterschool program, sits and takes in the sun with 2nd grade student, Galilee, in the yard at the UCLA Community School in Los Angeles, California. “Kind of the biggest thing that I've taken away is learning to appreciate, like the age I'm at and my youth, because looking at them, I definitely did not appreciate being like in fourth and fifth grade as much as I do now,” said Sujana of her time working with youth at the school.
Queena Kim, Principal, observes as Yolani, a 10th grade student, helps touch-up Marly, a 12th grade student’s, nails.
Students gather at lunch at UCLA Community School in Los Angeles, California.
Twins Katia and Karla, students in the 10th grade, use the pool at the RFK Community Schools Campus.
Adila and Javir gather with other high school seniors from the UCLA Community School and from schools around Southern California in front of the “Castle” at Disneyland in honor of Grad Night in Anaheim, California. Both Adila and Javir have attended UCLA Community School since kindergarten and began dating in high school. “I see them every after summer and say oh they grew a little taller, or they lost a tooth,” said Javir of witnessing his classmates develop from children into teenagers.
Adila and Javir look at a bug in his hand as they wait in line at Disneyland in honor of Grad Night in Anaheim, California.
Adila and Javir wait in line at Disneyland in honor of Grad Night in Anaheim, California.
Adila and Javir ride the spinning teacups at Disneyland in honor of Grad Night in Anaheim, California.
Javir sits during an Economics class at UCLA Community School. Javir is headed to the University of California Berkeley, where he received a full scholarship to study civil engineering. On this day, Javir participates in a discussion about student loan debt. “I don’t believe education is something you should buy. I think it should be a right for everyone,” said Javir during a roundtable discussion with his peers.
Javir and Joshua, who is also in the 12th grade and has attended the school since kindergarten, stand together, as other students study nearby, during homeroom. “I have more connection to my classmates, so I was able to look for systems of support better. I think most of my classmates felt the same way,” said Javir. “Yeah, academics was a very hard part. But if we felt moments of struggle or moments of self-doubt, we always have someone to reach out to…to empathize with what we're going through. Because, I mean, we've all faced it since kindergarten.”
Javir and friends help decorate for a friend’s Prom Proposal. “It’s going to be hard to leave school,” said Javir when asked about his close bonds with students and teachers.
Javir and friends help decorate for a friend’s Prom Proposal. “It’s going to be hard to leave school,” said Javir when asked about his close bonds with students and teachers.
Javir stands with his sister before picking up Adila for Senior Prom in Los Angeles, California.
Adila and Javir, pose for photos at Senior Prom in Los Angeles, California.
Javir and Adila react after they tie with another couple for Prom King and Queen at Senior Prom in Los Angeles, California.
Javir lines up before walking the stage during graduation. Although almost all UCLA-CS graduates (97%) leave the school with a plan to enroll in a 4-year or community college, the immediate college enrollment is 82%, which is more than 20 percentage points higher than the national rates for similar schools.
Javir embraces his mother, Janette, after graduation at the UCLA Community School in Los Angeles, California. “We are looking forward to the next chapter of our lives,” said Javir.
The hallway at UCLA Community School.