Highly-ranked Lennox Academy has 100% minority enrollment, 97% average graduation rate
A charter high school in Lennox is making headlines, ranking as one of the top schools in Los Angeles, California, and across the country.
Lennox Mathematics, Science, and Technology Academy's student enrollment is 100% minorities. But the school has a 97% average graduation rate, and is ranked seventh in Los Angeles, 19th across California, and 21st out of 21,000 U.S. high schools.
The school's motto is "Familia Ganas Y Orgullo," which translates to "Family, Desire and Pride." It''s a motto that resonates strongly with students like sophomore Cecilia Alfaro.
"You actually feel that when you come here. All the teachers know your names, which to me was very special because I've never had the teacher, especially the principal, know my name," she said.
One of the school's founders, Jose Rivas, teaches art, physics, and engineering. He says teaching was not his first career choice — he wanted to be an engineer and worked at Boeing Space System. But it wasn't enough for him.
"There was this disconnect between these huge multi-million dollar companies and my community," Rivas said. "How can I make bridges to help the students in Lennox? And growing up in the community, I knew that was something I had to change."
Lennox Academy's minority student population has the same challenges that others do at schools throughout the southwest Los Angeles County region.
"A lot of our students, some of them have to work to help out at home. There's a lot of different issues, there's still dealing with gang violence, drugs are issue that has increased over the last couple years as well," Principal Mario Villanueva said.
But Villanueva says the school's teachers, staff and students are committed to overcoming those challenges together.
"At the academy we talk about failure, failure is a part of success it's how you respond to those tough times and it's how you respond to those tough times that you get through it," he said.
And while students are hunkering down, studying to get through finals, emotions are mixed at this time of the year.
"It's like such a bittersweet thing," senior Emily Santos said. "For us highschoolers, it's like all we've known."
She won't be going far, having been accepted to USC to study architecture, but she'll remember Lennox Academy as home.
"Having that community and people that understand you and have had similar upbringings and experiences is important for you to feel heard," she said.
