School Profile, Accreditation, and CA School Dashboard
Welcome to NEW Academy of Science and Arts, home of the NASA Rockets!
NEW Academy is an independent charter school located within the Belmont-Pico Union community, just west of downtown Los Angeles. Since opening in 2003, New Academy of Science and Arts (NASA) has been providing a high quality public education for students in grades K-5.
The mission of NEW Academy is to create a child-centered environment where students are able to work cooperatively, become self-directed, think critically, develop self-esteem and self-assurance, and have respect for cultural diversity. NEW Academy has three specific performance objectives:
- to promote student progress in academic and artistic achievement, with an emphasis on the arts and sciences,
- to develop social, as well as community ethics and values in the students' character development with parental participation, and
- to implement the most appropriate curriculum for every child after initial assessment.
What is the California School Dashboard?
The California School Dashboard (Dashboard) is an online tool that shows how local educational agencies and schools are performing on the state and local indicators included in California's school accountability system. The Dashboard is a key part of major shifts in California K-12 schools, changes that have raised the bar for student learning, transformed testing and placed the focus on equity for all students. The Dashboard provides information that schools can use to improve. Please see the link below for our dashboard:
N.E.W. Academy of Science and Arts Summary | California School Dashboard (CA Dept of Education)
General Information
| County | Los Angeles |
|---|---|
| District | Los Angeles Unified |
| School | N.E.W. Academy of Science and Arts |
| CDS Code | 19 64733 0100289 |
| School Address | 379 South Loma Ave.  Link opens new browser tab |
| Mailing Address | 379 South Loma Ave. |
| Phone Number | (213) 413-9183 |
| Fax Number | (213) 413-9187 |
| Information Not Available | |
| Web Address | http://newnasa.org Link opens new browser tab |
| Administrator | Nelsy Jackson |
| Chief Business Official | Eddie Castro Director of Operations (213) 413-9183 castro@newnasa.org |
| Status | Active |
| Open Date | September 29, 2003 |
| School Type | Elementary Schools (Public) |
| Educational Program Type | Traditional |
| Low Grade | K |
| High Grade | 5 |
| Public School | Yes |
| Charter | Yes |
| Charter Number | 0521 |
| Charter Funding Type | Directly funded |
| Magnet | No |
| Year Round | No |
| Virtual Instruction | Not Virtual |
| Multilingual Instruction | Yes |
| Federal Charter District ID | 0601923 |
| NCES/Federal School ID | 11333 |
COMMUNITY NEED FOR A CHARTER SCHOOL
N.E.W. Academy of Science and Arts (NASA) is a Transitional Kindergarten through Fifth grade elementary school near downtown Los Angeles, in the Pico Union/Westlake neighborhood. The area was and is a high- density area that is largely populated with Latino immigrant families and identified with poverty. New Economics for Women, through its work to improve the lives of Latinas and their families, and as a community development organization in the early 2000s, saw the need for a school that would empower and help families in the Pico Union/Westlake.
N.E.W. Academy of Science and Arts was the inception of New Economics for Women and the school first opened its doors in 2003 upon authorization by LAUSD. It included goals for equipping low-income students for academic success and community participation in a child-centered environment where students work cooperatively, think critically and are self-directed as well as respect cultural diversity. We believe that this innovative approach sets us apart from other schools.
NASA came up for review in 2008 and then again was re-chartered through LAUSD in 2013. NASA has a new charter approved by the LAUSD Board for a term from 2018 to 2023.
N.E.W. Academy of Science and Arts serves a unique Los Angeles community. As stated earlier NASA is located in the Pico Union/Westlake neighborhood, and NASA now serves a population of about 395 students of which 99% are Hispanic/Latino. Of this percentage, 44% are of Guatemalan heritage. Among our Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten students, the percentage of Guatemalan heritage is 52%. This is significant because students come from families where indigenous languages are spoken at home. When we say that 44% of our students are from Guatemalan heritage we mean that although most of them were born in the United States, their parents come as immigrants from Guatemala.
According to enrollment applications and CALPADS data, all of our students come from low socioeconomic means, and 100% qualify for free and reduced meals. Information from initial enrollment applications shows, sixty-one percent of our students’ parents did not graduate from high school. Informal anecdotal informations has shown some of our Guatemalan parents speak a Mayan dialect with some broken Spanish and that some of our parents do not read or write. The Los Angeles Times Mapping Project describes the neighborhood NASA serves as one of Los Angeles’ highest density, with an ethnicity of 73.4% Latino. Additionally, our English Learner population has increased to above 82% from a percentage of 73% in 2013.