Promesa Boyle Heights highlights success at Mendez Learning Center

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Promesa Boyle Heights, a new community-led collaborative initiative consisting of several entities within the East Los Angeles neighborhood, came together at Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez Learning Center to celebrate the success of the school within the last few years.

Mendez Learning Center achieved the highest increase in graduation rates in the district this past year, rising 27 percentage points up to 58 percent. Mendez will host a college and career fair on campus Saturday morning at 9 a.m., and Promesa invited members of the community to join the school for that event.

Many different groups make up Promesa, including Proyecto Pastoral (the lead organization), City Year (which has a team serving at Promesa target schools Mendez and Hollenbeck Middle School), Communities in Schools, Homeboy Industries, Inner City Struggle, and the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. The model that Promesa Boyle Heights promotes is the cradle-to-college strategy that proved influential from Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Children's Zone. 

While Promesa Boyle Heights hopes to ripple out the triumphs from Mendez Learning Center across the rest of Los Angeles Unified School District and beyond, there are challenges. Promesa Boyle Heights is still waiting for additional funding, and while the coalition has clear goals in mind for the next few years, maintaining sustainable leadership can be easier planned than executed.