Click on Wiseburn's Original School House to see more images.
About
The Wiseburn School District (K-8) serves students from Hollyglen and the surrounding unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County (Del Aire and Wiseburn). About 50% of the District is located in the City of El Segundo, which contains numerous major employers, including aerospace and high tech industries as well as communications and entertainment. The area’s ideal climate and close proximity to cultural and sporting events along with various shopping venues make it highly desirable.
Wiseburn is immediately south of Los Angeles International Airport and one and one-half miles east of the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by the Century Freeway on the north and divided by the San Diego Freeway running north/south. In addition to the air and auto transportation infrastructure, the Green Line Metrorail traverses the District bringing workers to the employment centers. Roughly, the District boundaries are Sepulveda Boulevard on the west, Marine Avenue on the south, Imperial Highway on the north, and Inglewood Avenue on the east.
With approximately 2,550 students and four schools, the District is one of the few remaining small school districts in Los Angeles County. During the past decade the District enrollment, which at its peak reached 2,900 pupils before dropping to 1,100, has been growing again as resident student numbers have increased and been supplemented by pupils granted interdistrict attendance permits. Currently, the ethnic composition of the student body is: Multiracial 7%, Asian 8%, Caucasian 15%, African-American 18%, and Latino 52%, reflective of current California demographics. Diversity, with balance, is one of Wiseburn’s greatest strengths in preparing graduates for life in the “real” California. Being both small and suburban, Wiseburn offers a unique combination of a “family atmosphere” in an opportunity-rich setting.
Dedicated Staff
District staff consists of
ten administrative employees, 120
certificated and 35 full-time classified employees, supplemented by many
part-time support personnel.
The annual budget is approximately $17 million.
In March 1997, Wiseburn voters overwhelmingly (82%) approved over
$14 million in bonds to modernize school classrooms, and followed it up
in June 2000, with 76% approval of $35 million more in bonds for new
school construction.
Full
modernization of Burnett School was completed in 1999.
Construction of an entirely new Anza School was finished in Fall
2002.
A brand new Dana
Middle School in Hollyglen opened in 2007.
Voters (83%) approved bonds to build a state of the art
elementary school (Cabrillo) in June 2007.
Cabrillo was completed in
December 2008.
In November 2010, Wiseburn voters approved yet another school
construction bond for $87 million to build Wiseburn High School.
This is the first time in California history that an elementary district
has approved bonds to build a high school. The Environmental
Impact Report phase is under way and the district hopes to open Wiseburn
High School in 2016.
Top Reputation
There is a well deserved reputation for educational excellence within the Wiseburn School District. Both parents and others perceive the District as successfully offering a personalized learning process focused on mastery of the basic skills within a safe, positive, and orderly learning environment. Acquisition of skills needed to compete in a global economy is a major thrust. Staff members are highly committed and students achieve. The staff is dedicated to maintaining high academic standards for students and continuing the tradition of pride in the District.
To complement the strong academic tradition, Wiseburn is an Arts for All District! Since 2006, Wiseburn has proudly participated in Arts for All. This Los Angeles County-wide initiative is focused on providing high quality arts education for every public school student. As a Public School Arts (P.S. Arts) District, we believe that the arts are a vital and indispensable part of the comprehensive education of every student.
In August 2009, Wiseburn opened two K-12 Charter Schools, Da Vinci
Science and Da Vinci Design, to offer Wiseburn families a high school
option for the first time in our 116-year history. The Da Vinci
Schools excel academically using project-based learning and strong
support from the local aerospace corporations. The charters are
quickly earning a reputation for excellence among South Bay high
schools!
In addition, in August 2011, the Da Vinci Innovation Academy was
launched. The Academy is the K-8 component of the Da Vinci
Charters and is a two-day per week project based program that targets
children who are home schooled.