courtesy of Shutterstock

Hart School District's Impressive Accolades
get Kids on Track for Success
The William S. Hart Union High School District is ranked as one of the highest-performing districts in Los Angeles County, the State of California and in the nation. Here are just some of the reasons why.

• High marks for academics and student achievement in US News, Newsweek, Los Angeles-based publications and state reports.

• Hart District students are admitted into the world's best colleges, including the Ivy League, Stanford and UCLA.

• Emphasizing rigor, relevance and discipline, Advanced Placement and Honors classes are offered, allowing students to flourish in their academic areas of strength.

• The Hart District's strong collaboration with College of the Canyons affords students even greater academic and career preparation opportunities.

• Highly-competitive sports programs winning CIF and state championships. Athletes from across multiple sports routinely earn college scholarships, with some even going on to the professional ranks and the Olympics.

• The value of teamwork as a student today and later in life is critical. Knowing how to work with others to accomplish something greater than yourself helps individuals grow and thrive in life.

• Award-winning performing arts programs continue to produce students who achieve critical and worldwide fame. Major theatrical and musical performers work directly with Hart District students and teachers to hone their craft and develop their art.

• Hart District graduates include Taylor Lautner ("The Twilight Saga"), Mark-Paul Gosselaar ("Saved by the Bell"), Kelly Packard ("Baywatch"), Naya Rivera ("Glee") and Ashley Tisdale ("High School Musical").

• A partnership with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

• Options for students who might not learn in the traditional way include Sequoia, Learning Post, Hart @ Home, Bowman (Recognized four times as a model continuation school!) and Academy of the Canyons.
William S. Hart Union High School District 259-0033

College is a Match to be Made, Not a Prize to be Won
SCVi to Present the Insider's Guide to College Prep from Nationally-renowned College Expert Anne Cochran
SCVi, iLEAD's founding school, welcomes renowned college expert Anne Cochran to speak on Tuesday, August 25 at 6pm.
Anne was named a San Fernando Valley Business Journal's Women in Business Award nominee and is a frequent speaker at professional college conferences, most recently as a guest speaker at College Board's Destination Equity 2014 Conference.
She has also recently addressed the Western Association of College Admission Counseling, as well as the International Education Consultants' Association. She is the recipient of the 2012 Yale Educator Award, 2012 Colleges That Change Lives Counselor Award, the 2012 Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation's Educator of Distinction Award, and CHAMPS' 2013 Educator of the Year Award. She was also the in-house college blogger for KTTV's MyFOXLA Parents.

Anne believes that college is a vital tool for achieving happiness and success in life. Moreover, there are viable four-year college choices for learners of every ability, interest, socioeconomic and achievement level. After experiencing her own two children receiving results-oriented, school-based college counseling at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, she realized her life's mission is to bring those learned lessons to teenagers who would otherwise never receive equivalent guidance, but in ways that effectively communicate the needed motivation and information to them, no matter what learning challenges or socioeconomic/cultural barriers exist.

All are welcome to attend Anne Cochran's free College Planning Talk in SCVi Charter School's Shakespeare Theatre. RSVP is not required, but appreciated.
sara.brown@scvi-k12.org

The Road to Ivy League Acceptance Starts Earlier than High School
There's no shortage of books, blog posts and online courses built around a singular goal: getting your child into an Ivy League university. Even parents who aren't committed to the "Ivy Path" engage with these materials regularly, hoping that the formula pitched within will, if not get their child into Harvard, gain them admission (And scholarships!) to any number of other highly-competitive institutions.

A brief perusal of a recent article on the topic turns up some tips that might surprise parents and students who start thinking about college when the child enters high school. Take, for example, the suggestion that the student "take the hardest courses available in their high school and consider taking the hardest classes offered at a junior college." This is usually only a possibility for students who've entered high school "ahead of the game." Locally, public school students aren't allowed to enter "above grade" high school math classes when matriculating from local junior highs. Legacy Christian Academy students, however, participate in an academically-advanced curriculum that has them most often completing the first year of high school math when they're still enrolled in junior high. This opportunity propels them a full year ahead of the majority of their peers when they enter local high schools, freeing them to enroll in the highest math courses available on their campus.
Of course, taking the hardest classes available is only good policy when students can earn top grades in those sections. That's why developing early study skills and acclimating to a standard of exceptional academic rigor should begin well before a university-bound child enters high school. Legacy Christian Academy alums regularly are rewarded for their efforts with acceptance letters from the nation's most competitive universities, including Ivy League institutions.
Legacy Christian Academy 257-7377