Grading the arts in LAUSD

Valley Alternative Magnet

6701 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys

Enrollment: 616

Low-income students: 61%

Race/Ethnicity: Latino: 38%, white: 44%, Asian: 9%, black: 5%, other: 5%

Rank

437 of 507

elementary schools

C

What arts classes are offered?

Theater

Visual

Dance

Music

Vocal

Valley Alternative Magnet scored 15 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 does not provide extra programs, according to responses by administrators before the 2015-16 academic year. The school's survey response earned a C grade in a Times analysis of the results. Districtwide, 535 schools (70.8%) 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*

 No

Fundraising by school or parent groups

 No

Grants

 No

Donations

 No

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

 No

Grants

 No

Donations

 No

Teachers of extra classes

Who provides the extra arts instruction at this school

A district teacher not dedicated to teaching the arts

 No

Community arts partner

 No

Parent or community volunteer

 No

Accomplished artist

 No

How did nearby schools score?

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

Name Type Address Grade
Daniel Pearl Journalism & Communications Magnet Secondary 6649 Balboa Blvd C
Independence Continuation Secondary 6501 Balboa Blvd D
William Mulholland Middle Secondary 17120 Vanowen St C
Gault Street Elementary Elementary 17000 Gault St V C
Lemay Street Elementary Elementary 17520 Vanowen St C
Anatola Avenue Elementary Elementary 7364 Anatola Ave C
Newcastle Elementary Elementary 6520 Newcastle Av C
Academy for Enriched Sciences Elementary 17551 Miranda St C
Bertrand Avenue Elementary Elementary 7021 Bertrand Ave C
Bassett Street Elementary Elementary 15756 Bassett St C
Stagg Street Elementary Elementary 7839 Amestoy Ave A
Reseda Senior High Secondary 18230 Kittridge St B
Zane Grey Continuation Secondary 18230 Kittridge St D
Emelita Academy Charter Elementary 17931 Hatteras St C
Cohasset Street Elementary Elementary 15810 Saticoy St C

Reader comments

Share what you know about arts education at Valley Alternative Magnet 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