District’s 5th Police Academy Coming to Reseda High School

In an ongoing attempt to attract students to the school, Reseda High is planning this fall to add to its curriculum a police academy that will cater to students who want to explore law enforcement-related jobs, authorities said Thursday.

The four-year academy will be the Los Angeles Unified School District’s fifth. One of the first police academies was incorporated into the law and government magnet program at Monroe High School in North Hills.

The others are at Dorsey High School in the Crenshaw area, Wilson High School in El Sereno and San Pedro High School.

Students enrolling in Reseda High School’s academy program will be taught core high school curriculum classes, but with a law enforcement emphasis, said Joel Schaeffer, Reseda High School’s head football coach.

Schaeffer will oversee the police academy program at the school.

For example, in English classes, academy students will learn how to write law briefs and police reports.

Academy students will take four years of physical education, two more than required of most students. In addition, academy students will take forensic science classes to learn fingerprinting, DNA testing and other methods of investigating crime scenes, Schaeffer said.

“We’re looking to bring a real good program to Reseda High School,” he said.

School administrators are hoping 60 students will enroll as freshmen in the program this fall, but said they will accept a minimum of 30.

Students will be required to maintain a 2.0 grade-point average to participate in the program, Schaeffer said. They will also be expected to complete 20 hours of community service per year and wear uniforms--light blue shirts with navy pants and spit-shined black shoes--once a week for inspection.

Reseda High School began offering career academies to students interested in specific career paths four years ago, said Principal Robert Kladifko. Since then, the school’s enrollment has steadily increased.

Before then, students were turning to other schools for specialized training.

“We were losing students to other schools under the open enrollment program,” said Kladifko. “Now we’re not losing as many, and we’re attracting more students to our school.”

Reseda High has 2,200 students and expects to have 2,400 in September.

Much of the funding for the academies has come from state grants and from charitable foundations, such as the California Community Foundation and the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation. The Weingart Foundation has offered a $50,000 challenge grant for the Reseda academy, said Roberta Weintraub, who oversees the school district’s police academy programs.

The Reseda academy will cost about $300,000 to start, officials said. Half of that amount has been raised.

Construction of a computer lab and an obstacle course, complete with climbing walls, hurdles and balance beams is expected to begin in May, Schaeffer said.

The school district will pay the salaries of teachers at the academy. The Los Angeles Police Department is expected to provide volunteers as class speakers.