Teachers at Figueroa Elementary attribute rising test scores to school’s welcoming environment.

Photo by Katie VanArnam

"It is a sunny Friday afternoon in South Central Los Angeles, music blasting through the speakers at Figueroa Street Elementary School as nine-year-old Alan runs around the playground with friends, a smile across his face.

“'Everyone is very nice to me, and I feel like I belong here,' said Alan, a third grader. 'I feel like I am a part of this family.'

"In a city with minimal gains in academic achievement and a school district lagging behind the state, this scrappy elementary school stands out. Nearly all the kids who attend Figueroa come from poor families and many have disabilities or are learning English. Often kids from such backgrounds struggle in school, but the students at Figueroa Street are making progress.

"In reading, the school saw a 14% increase in students in 2024 who met state standards from the previous year. In math, Figueroa saw a 12% jump from the year before.

"Teachers and students say that’s because everybody in the school is like family." - Katie VanArnam

ARTICLE: How a South Central Los Angeles Elementary School Built a Culture of ‘Family’

Radical hope delivered fresh. Subscribe.

Teachers at Figueroa Elementary attribute rising test scores to school’s welcoming environment.

The deepest purpose of education is to help people become free and responsible human beings.

Thinking is a practice that can be cultivated, and the arts are one of the most powerful ways we learn how to do it.

The purpose of education is not to prepare students for the world as it is, but to awaken in them the capacity to imagine the world as it could be.

Building futures literacy in the transition from study to working life.