Grading the arts in LAUSD

Melrose Avenue Elementary

731 N Detroit St, Los Angeles

Enrollment: 335

Low-income students: 52%

Race/Ethnicity: Latino: 40%, white: 29%, Asian: 21%, black: 6%, other: 4%

Rank

15 of 507

elementary schools

A

What arts classes are offered?

Theater

Visual

Dance

Music

Vocal

Melrose Avenue Elementary scored 45 out of 83 points on a first-of-its-kind survey of arts education at L.A. Unified. The elementary school offers two of five standard arts classes tracked by the district and provides extra programs, according to responses by administrators before the 2015-16 academic year. The school's survey response earned an A grade in a Times analysis of the results. Districtwide, 35 schools (4.6%) received the same grade.

How much is taught?

Administrators answered multiple-choice questions about arts instruction, training and equipment provided by the school.

Students and class availability

Percentage of students receiving arts instruction: The estimated percentage of students who get arts instruction

Weeks of arts instruction: The number of weeks that each student receives arts instruction

Instructional time per week: The estimated amount of time spent on arts education per week

Number of arts courses: The number of arts programs offered

Percentage of students receiving arts instruction

Weeks of arts instruction

Instructional time per week

Number of arts courses

Teachers and facilities

Arts instructors: For elementary schools, this is the number of days per week that a district-employed arts teacher provides instruction. For secondary schools, this is the number of full-time arts teachers on staff.

Training: Arts-specific training opportunites offered to teachers

Equipment and facilities: Quality of equipment and facilities available at each school to support the arts

Arts instructors

Training

Equipment and facilities

Who pays and who else teaches?

Administrators answered yes-or-no questions about sources of funding and instruction for arts education.

Funds for standard classes

Sources of funding for arts resources and supplies (e.g. paintbrushes, instruments) used for instruction during the regular school day

School budget*

 Yes

Fundraising by school or parent groups

 No

Grants

 No

Donations

 No
* Amount from budget reported as "$501 - $999"

Funds for extra instruction

Sources of funding for arts programs that are not provided as part of the regular school day

School budget

 No

Fundraising by school or parent groups

 Yes

Grants

 Yes

Donations

 No

Teachers of extra classes

Who provides the extra arts instruction at this school

A district teacher not dedicated to teaching the arts

 Yes

Community arts partner

 Yes

Parent or community volunteer

 Yes

Accomplished artist

 No

How did nearby schools score?

Compare the grades earned by L.A. Unified schools in surrounding neighborhoods.

Name Type Address Grade
Hubert Howe Bancroft Middle Secondary 929 N Las Palmas Ave B
Fairfax Senior High Secondary 7850 Melrose Ave B
Whitman Continuation Secondary 7795 Rosewood Ave C
Laurel Elementary Elementary 925 N Hayworth Av C
Hollywood Senior High Secondary 1521 N Highland Ave B
Vine Street Elementary Elementary 955 N Vine St C
Gardner Street Elementary Elementary 7450 Hawthorn Ave C
Third Street Elementary Elementary 201 S June St B
Selma Avenue Elementary Elementary 6611 Selma Ave B
Hancock Park Elementary Elementary 408 S Fairfax Ave B
John Burroughs Middle Secondary 600 S Mc Cadden P B
Hollywood Primary Center Elementary 1115 Tamarind Ave C
Rosewood Avenue Elementary Elementary 503 N Croft Ave D
Van Ness Avenue Elementary Elementary 501 N Van Ness Av C
Joseph Le Conte Middle Secondary 1316 N Bronson Av B

Reader comments

Share what you know about arts education at Melrose Avenue Elementary in the comments or on social media using #gradeyourschool.

Footnote: Low-income percentage tallied using the total number of students receiving free and reduced-price lunch. Some errors in survey responses exist; read more about how these data were assembled.

Sources: Los Angeles Unified School District, California Department of Education, Times analysis

Credits: Ryan Menezes, Lily Mihalik, Zahira Torres, Ben Welsh

Icons: The Noun Project, Artworkbean, Raz Cohen, Benjamin Bours, Paul Stevens, Creative Stall, BraveBros., Jakub Caja, Alexander Cherkinsky, Austin Condiff, Yu Luck