CHECKING OUT : Success Story at Sylmar School

See what’s been going on at Sylmar Elementary School over the last three years, and your stereotype of Los Angeles public schools may change.

The school enjoys outside support from a neighborhood business--Builder’s Emporium has adopted the school--and lots of parent involvement, including parenting skills sessions offered off-campus, in apartment recreation centers and housing projects, where teachers volunteer to teach parents how to help their children succeed.

Parents and student volunteers of all ages are building an outdoor science center that includes a stream, a sink to demonstrate erosion and a playhouse. The $500 for the project was raised through the school’s 35-member Parent Friendship Group, which meets three days a week to make crafts, cook and sell their products to fund special projects such as the science center.

“In the last three years, we have a lot more students coming here from private schools,” Principal Yvonne Chan said. “The dressing up of our school has a lot to do with it. Visitors can see the attractiveness of the physical setting--murals, plants, the childrens’ work. Secondly, our reputation has improved due to the number of our extra programs and the parent bulletins we distribute.”