The LMU School of Education is dedicated to educating K-12 professionals who will positively impact the lives of countless students in elementary, middle and secondary school settings. The school has the largest graduate program and the only doctoral program on LMU’s Westchester campus. The School of Education at LMU prepares students to work in culturally diverse schools, serving as leaders in their institutions and their communities.

With an emphasis on serving under-resources Catholic and public schools, LMU’s School of Education has forged significant partnerships with the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Lennox School District, the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese, Teach for America and the National Catholic Education Association. Credentials and degree programs train educators to be successful teachers, special educators, school counselors and psychologists, reading specialists and administrators in the public and private urban school of the Los Angeles region.  For more information on the School of Education please click here.   

LMU FAMILY OF SCHOOLS

Loyola Marymount University, the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Westchester/Playa Education Foundation have come together with the support of the Westchester Neighborhood Council and other community groups to improve seven local schools in the Westchester area: Westchester High School, Orville Wright Middle School, Cowan Avenue Elementary, Kentwood Elementary, Loyola Village Elementary, Paseo del Rey Elementary and Westport Heights Elementary.This collaboration began through the grassroots efforts of local community organizations with the goal of improving their public schools.

The first year will be a planning year and assessment of the local schools. LMU’s School of Education will be examining and focusing attention on student/teacher placement, intern placement, targeted professional development and tutoring.

LMU’s contribution to this effort is $200,000 annually in addition to an estimated 1,000 hours of hours by departments throughout LMU.

PLACE CORP

Founded in 2001, the LMU PLACE Corps is a two-year teaching service program formed through a partnership between Loyola Marymount University, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and in a consortium with the University of Notre Dame. The program’s foundation is set upon three equally integral pillars:

· Professional Development

· Community Living

· Spiritual Development

PLACE Corps members (PLACErs) are immersed in an intensive summer program which launches their academic preparation for their role as teachers in under-resources Los Angeles Catholic schools.

All PLACE Corps graduate coursework takes place at the Loyola Marymount University and aims to prepare educators who will respect and value all individuals, educate by integrating theory and practice, advocate for access to a socially just education, lead in order to facilitate transformation.

THE LEAD CENTER

The LEAD Center was established in 2000 to strengthen the resources and support offered to every Catholic secondary school responding to the changing needs of students in the context of the gospel and of their identity as Catholic schools.

Catholic secondary schools are called to respond to the changing needs whether the student body represents a diverse racial and cultural population or recognizes the need for greater diversity. This is also the case whether the school serves students with a specific academic profile or students present a range of learning needs.

The Center, housed at Loyola Marymount University’s School of Education, supports Catholic secondary schools across the United States in diversity, leadership and inclusion issues. This collaborative endeavor has opened the possibility for fathering Catholic school educators to explore topics in light of Catholic social teaching and in the context of the Catholic secondary school. The Center also serves as a clearinghouse for resources (workshop speakers, publications, assessment instruments) to support the work of Catholic secondary school educators.

THE APPLE PROGRAM (Achieving Partnerships Pairing LMU Student with Special Educators)

Working in conjunction with the Center for Service and Action the APPLE program is for undergraduates and graduate students. This program works with underserved elementary, middle school and high school special education students in the LAUSD, Santa Monica, Malibu and Lennox School District to help strengthen their reading and writing skills. Undergraduates are paired with schools in Los Angeles to get first hand observation hours for the purposes of their major requirements. For graduate students, APPLE serves as a credentialing program that sends them into local schools such as Cohen Elementary, Loyola Village, Kentwood and Orville Wright. There are up to 20 students in the class per semester and each student must spend at least 2 hours per week in these schools. The APPLE program contributes approximately 1300 hours per academic year at local schools.

THE CENTER FOR EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE IN ENGLISH LEARNER EDUCATION & RESEARCH

This center will address the unique needs of students whose proficiency in English is limited. Some 580,000 K-12 in Los Angeles County are English learners, and there numbers continue to grow each year. Achievement results for these students are alarming, with English learners scoring extremely low on the statewide achievement test and data, demonstrating that they fall further and further behind their English speaking peers as they progress through middle school and high school.

THE CATHOLIC INCLUSION PROGRAM

The Master of Arts in Catholic Inclusive Education is designed to prepare teachers and administrators in Catholic schools to become leaders in supporting students with exceptional needs in parochial schools. Courses are designed to provide a foundation in both general and special education with a specific emphasis on inclusion within the Catholic school context.