LMU has a new neighbor and partner. Playa Vista Elementary School has opened for business, featuring a unique partnership between the Los Angeles Unified School District, the community and LMU to develop a model demonstration school featuring science, technology, engineering and math education.
As part of this collaboration, the children of LMU faculty and staff members will be allowed to attend the school and LMU’s School of Education will provide research-based teaching methods, best practices and professional development.
The LMU Center for Urban Resilience will also provide environmental curricula tied to the school’s proximity to the Ballona watershed and the adjacent Discovery Park. Eric Strauss, the Center’s Director and President’s Professor of Biology, will coordinate the ecology-specific programs in collaboration with the Friends of Ballona.
The 575-seat school features 24 classrooms plus technology and science labs, outdoor educational spaces, including a “learning garden.” The building has an eco-conscious design that uses solar energy and environmentally friendly building materials.
For the students and parents streaming into the schoolyard this was more than just the first day of school.
“It’s an exciting day for my daughters,” said Eileen De Alva-Gonzalez, alumni development and communications manager at LMU. “They are starting a new chapter in their educational career, at a brand new school where they will be inspired to learn science, technology, engineering and math.”
As the parents and students arrived, Shane P. Martin, dean of the School of Education, greeted parents and their children.
“This is really a wonderful launch to what will be a model teaching demonstration school giving us the opportunity to share research-based best practices that benefit the community, the school district and LMU,” Martin said.