Bell High to Get $57,000 Grant for New College-Prep Program
The Milken Family Foundation has given $57,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District to create a Saturday college-preparatory program for promising students at largely Latino Bell High School.
The Los Angeles Board of Education is expected to accept the gift at its Monday meeting.
The program, to be called the Milken Academic Excellence Program, is designed to teach academically promising freshmen and sophomores at Bell the skills they will need to succeed in college. About 250 ninth-graders and 50 10th-graders will attend Saturday programs called “academies” on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles.
Almost 93% of the students at Bell are Latino, an under-represented minority at 4-year colleges and universities.
The academies will provide career and college counseling, teach study skills and provide instruction in science, mathematics, English and language arts. The programs will be planned and taught by both Bell and Cal State L.A. faculty.
According to Bell Principal Mary Ann Sesma, the program is one of several designed to increase the number of Bell graduates who enter higher education.
The Milken Family Foundation is a charitable organization with a special interest in education.
The yearlong program is expected to begin this month.
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