SAFE HAVEN FOR STUDY CHARTER SCHOOL FOCUSES ON INDIVIDUAL STUDENT NEEDS.Byline: Rick Coca Valley News Writer Bert Corona Corona, city, United States Corona (kərō`nə), city (1990 pop. 76,095), Riverside co., S Calif.; inc. 1896. The city developed as a primary citrus fruit producer and shipping center. There is also light manufacturing. Charter School Principal Angelique Jacques-Marcoulis, herself a product of the mean streets of South Los Angeles South Los Angeles is the official name for a large geographic and cultural area lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central Los Angeles, and is still sometimes called South Central. , knows that when her 200 or so students leave the series of quaint and neatly aligned trailers they call school, their realities can change, sometimes dramatically. ``Some of our kids leave here and go to San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. Gardens (housing project),'' Jacques-Marcoulis said. Police helicopters hovering hov·er intr.v. hov·ered, hov·er·ing, hov·ers 1. To remain floating, suspended, or fluttering in the air: gulls hovering over the waves. 2. overhead are a standard neighborhood feature. Jacques-Marcoulis said she made sure the teachers and staff she hired had a good understanding of the children's environment out of the classroom. And she does her best to persuade students that they can keep their minds on studying while in the safe confines con·fine v. con·fined, con·fin·ing, con·fines v.tr. 1. To keep within bounds; restrict: Please confine your remarks to the issues at hand. See Synonyms at limit. of the school. ``The only thing you have to do is study,'' Jacques-Marcoulis tells her students. ``Nobody's going to harm you here.'' The majority of her students qualify for a federally funded meal program. But because Jacques-Marcoulis understands personally what it takes to thrive educationally under sometimes harsh, inner-city conditions, she makes sure her students know that at the end of the day, there are no excuses for not succeeding. The charter, named after legendary labor leader Bert Corona, has been at its present location, adjacent to the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. Japanese-American Community Center, since July 2005. It's only been in existence for three semesters, but Jacques-Marcoulis is confident that the teaching system the school has in place will produce long-term success for the students. Students are assigned three teachers when they come in as sixth-graders, and the teachers continue with the students as they move to the next grade. Jacques-Marcoulis said that the teachers regularly meet with each other to discuss the progress of each individual student and share whatever teaching techniques that work with individual students. ``There's been a lot of growth,'' Jacques-Marcoulis said. ``It's exponential because of the accessibility. We are a fishbowl. You can see what everybody's doing. Johnny doesn't fall through the cracks here.'' Since part of the school's charter is to be a social change agency, students work on various projects to that end. Currently a seventh-grade group is working on a project analyzing violence in the media, including video games See video game console. and musical lyrics. When the students finish collecting data, they will share what they have learned with fifth-graders from a local elementary school elementary school: see school. . ``So it's kids teaching kids,'' Jacques-Marcoulis said. She said that the school receives a lot of support from parents, who pitch in to clean up, plant flowers and remove rocks from the site, which currently has more dirt than grass. Jacques-Marcoulis, a passionate speaker who gets emotional when she talks about the students' challenges, said the parents' complete belief in the program adds to the importance of her work. ``If you're a person of integrity, that's a big responsibility,'' Jacques-Marcoulis said. Student Body President Risa Valdez, 14, said there's a big difference between the Corona Charter School and some of the heavily populated pop·u·late tr.v. pop·u·lat·ed, pop·u·lat·ing, pop·u·lates 1. To supply with inhabitants, as by colonization; people. 2. local schools. ``The thing I enjoy the most is being able to learn and to be safe,'' Valdez said. ``(Here), people care and they don't want anything to happen to you. I like the way they listen to you. If you don't understand something, they'll take time out of their free time to help you.'' Valdez said she has already decided that one day she'd like to be a pediatrician pe·di·a·tri·cian or pe·di·at·rist n. A specialist in pediatrics. or an optometrist optometrist /op·tom·e·trist/ (op-tom´e-trist) a specialist in optometry. Optometrist A medical professional who examines and tests the eyes for disease and treats visual disorders by prescribing corrective . ``I just want to be part of the helping part of the world,'' Valdez said. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Bert Corona Charter School Principal Angelique Jacques-Marcoulis wants nothing more than to see students like Student Body President Risa Valdez reach their full potential in life. Rick Coca/Valley News |
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