School History

 

New Open World Academy, is a K-12 school located on the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools co-located site located in the Koreatown/Pico-Union area in Los Angeles. New Open World Academy Elementary School (K- 5) opened in September 2009 and New Open World Academy Secondary School (6-11) opened in September 2010.

 

The school, along with 3 other schools on the site, was founded to relieve the overcrowding at two neighboring comprehensive schools, Los Angeles High School and Belmont High School, both of which are Title I schools that were operated under a multi-tracked year-round schedule. Moreover, the school was built to bring students, who were being bused out to schools in the San Fernando Valley, back to their neighborhood.

 

New Open World Academy is one of six public pilot schools on the RFK Community Schools complex, the others being the UCLA Community School (K-12), opened in 2009; the Ambassador School of Global Education (K- 5), opened in 2009; the Ambassador School of Global Leadership (6-12); opened in 2010; and the Los Angeles High School for the Arts and the School for Visual Arts and Humanities (9-12), which moved into the complex in 2010.

 

 

Mission and Vision

 

Mission  To produce students who are focused on social justice, who are ecologically conscious, and college-ready.

 

Vision It is the vision of NOW Academy to become agents of change in the world of the future; we must start preparing our students now. We want our students to be globally aware and technologically proficient, and to recognize their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet. We want to empower them with a robust understanding of social justice and equality so that they will take actions, individually and collectively, to address issues of injustice, locally and globally.

 

NOW Academy is a K-12 Pilot School with a community of students, parents, faculty, and staff members that are characterized by our collaboration, engagement, growth, and focus on student success. NOW Academy has continued to build a community of learners who will not only be college-ready, but who will become agents of change in the global and local community. Our mission is to produce students who are focused on social justice, environmentally consciousness, and who are college-ready. This is done through the use of technology to inform instruction and to drive student performance. NOW Academy continues to use project-based learning, service learning, real-life experiences, and digital portfolios to engage our students' ability reach their maximum potential. Our teachers use authentic assessments outlined in our "Habits of Heart and Mind" to ensure they fulfill the graduation requirements: A-G Requirements, CDE Requirements and LAUSD Requirements.

 

 

 

All stakeholders are involved in our school and have contributed much to its multi-faceted approach to instruction. We continue to welcome all nationalities, engendering respect for all cultures. NOW Academy continues to focus on the whole development of the student, aiming to equip every student with the skills essential for lifelong learning. Over the years, NOW students have been awarded many scholarships including Warren Christopher Scholarship, AAPA Scholarship, Gates Millennium Scholarship, Dell Scholarship and the Posse Foundation Scholarship. Additionally, many of our students have gone to prestigious colleges including: Harvard University, USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UCI, UCR, CSULB, CSULA, CSUN, Chico State, CSUF, Humboldt, CSU East Bay and more!