a home for higher education.
Ranking second largest in the nation for number of students registered, the Los Angeles Unified School District enrolls more than 640,000 students at over 900 schools every year, according to the LAUSD.
Amongst these schools lies 52nd Street Elementary, a small school with big hopes for their students.“When I used to teach I would have a time where I would show them pictures of big homes, nice cars. How do you think they got that?” Parent and teacher at 52nd Elementary School, Ronda Spotulle said.
“Not making them materialistic but letting them understand that you can have those things but you have to have a certain kind of job and with that kind of job comes a certain kind of education.”
Spotulle, like many other teachers at 52nd street, wants to see her students succeed outside of the reportedly low-income and high crime area that is Vermont Harbor.
“So as an educator, if you don’t let these kids know. How are they going to get it? In this area… they see this daily cycle in their homes,”
"Their parents working 12 hours. Barely having enough to feed them. Maybe their lights are getting cut off. Maybe they’re not eating enough food. And until they’re exposed to a different way, they think every bodies life is that way." - Ronda Spotulle, Teacher and parent at 52nd Street Elementary
Starting his 6th year as acting principal of the 52nd Street School, Osbaldo Jimenez recalls his own life and why education is so important to the children in the Vermont Harbor area.
“This is how I grew up. And as much as I love this community, I think there’s other aspects of the world that the kids should experience and be exposed to,” Jimenez said. “And I think the mindset of ‘I’m going to college’ begins at an early age. You start thinking of high school and choosing better high schools. Hopefully if you choose a better high school you have fewer dilemmas and aren’t torn between friends and doing the right thing or the wrong thing. So that you’re comfortable, you’re in control and you’re the person who you want to be.”
In 2015, the 52nd Street School had a transience rate of 39 percent, according to Jimenez. This rate measures the amount of students who started the year and did not finish.
“In this community we have a lot of shelter homes. And for whatever reasons, a family comes into the shelter thinking they’re going to stay so they enroll and something happens and they understandably have to go,” Jimenez said quietly. “We have a dedicated person to handle the cases of students who are in foster homes because we have quite a number of them, and luckily we are blessed they come to us in families as much as possible. But it's always very hard to see the children leave.”
Los Angeles alone has around 74 shelter homes, resulting in many families enrolling in school for their children then later having to leave for different reasons. Jimenez also mentioned that many students at 52nd street are raised by extended family because their parents are no longer in their lives, causing students to look to advisors as a source of support and guidance.
Spotulle agreed that she too plays an important role in her students lives.
“I’ve seen a lot of my kids grow up, they’re in their 20’s and they’re still in this neighborhood. They didn’t do anything," Spotulle said. "I’ve had parents come to conferences and say, ‘Well my mom went to this school, I went to this school and my sons are,’ and I’m thinking, ‘You’re boasting about that? You should be at a better place.’ These kids need to see something different, to know that there is something different.”
Seeing steady improvement in standarized test scores and grades in the past six years, things seem to be looking up for the students at 52nd street.
“I want better for my son than what I had.” A parent who wished to remain anonymous said. “I want to see him do well in school. I want him to have a better life [for himself and his kids] than what I gave him. And I hope he can do that.”
For more information, visit the 52nd Street Elementary School website.