Open Magnet Charter School

Welcome to Open Magnet Charter School

Open Magnet Charter is an Affiliated-Charter and Magnet Elementary School (K-5) in the Los Angeles Unified School District. We are conveniently located near the 405 Freeway in the City of Los Angeles adjacent to the community of Westchester.

Like an oasis away from the busy city, Open students, parents, and staff come together to build a true learning community where students learn through meaningful experiences. Teams of two teachers sharing the same “cluster” of multi-age students design the instructional program to create a thematic project-based curriculum. Enrichment programs covering visual arts, vocal arts, orchestra, physical education, and gardening are also integrated. With its constructivist approach to teaching and a dedicated and diverse school community, Open is one of the most unique schools in the district.

Our goal is to inspire and support our students’ love of learning, thereby enabling them to master the skills they will need as lifelong learners and responsible citizens in our ever-changing society.

Information about upcoming tours will be available on our website usually in October. Applicants MUST be residents of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) at the time of application in order to participate in the LAUSD Magnet Program. Click here on how to apply to Open Magnet Charter.

Open Magnet Charter has been designated as a California Distinguished School in 1997, 2003, and just recently in 2012.

"[These Schools] demonstrate the incredible commitment of California's teachers, administrators and school employees to provide a world-class education to every student, in spite of the financial hardships facing our state and our schools. Their dedication is inspiring, and I applaud and admire their passion and persistence."
--State Superintendent Tom Torlakson

In 2001, we were one of three schools chosen in the county of Los Angeles to be the recipient of the Los Angeles Educational Partnership Excellence Award. The LAEP Excellence Awards highlight the accomplishments of teachers, schools and school-communities in the Los Angeles Unified School District that have enhanced student learning and achievement in pre-K through 12th grade.

News Highlights

Fifteenth Open School Institute: Constructivism in Action- Thursday, January 30, 2020 (Article)

Submitted by Antoinette Cass on Nov 14 (last updated Nov 14)

In an effort to make a more meaningful contribution to professional communities of educators and to extend our leadership, approximately 20 years ago we created the Open Magnet Charter School Institute: Constructivism in Action.

Open School's Institute will take place on Thursday, January 30, 2020 from 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

This one-day conference for educators from across the globe takes place on our campus during the regular school day, offering visiting educators the opportunity to experience and observe learning and teaching processes in an authentic context. It provides a chance for participants to learn how to integrate constructivist practices into their classrooms and at their schools through a process of focused classroom observation, teacher-led workshops, and panel discussions involving teachers, students, and staff.

Please click the Institute Flyer for more information.

Click to Register for Open School's Institute. If you know of an educator that would enjoy this day of learning, please pass on the information. Registration closes soon and enrollment is limited.

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We are Listening: What is Open School's Social Emotional Program? (Article)

Submitted by Antoinette Cass on Oct 17 (last updated Oct 31)

We are Listening is a segment of Thursday's Backpack that will be published monthly to address some of the information gathered from our May 2019 Program Evaluation Survey. Many families filled out the Open School Program Evaluation Survey, and we thank you for your feedback, as this information helps to guide the work we do to improve and maintain Open School.

What is Open School's Social Emotional Program?

We recognize the importance of teaching not just cognitive skills, but also social emotional learning. As such, after much research, investigation, and discussion, we created our Roots of Respect program. This curriculum provides a literature-based framework for our teachers to create experiences that increase and develop our students’ self- management, social awareness, and relationship skills.

There are ten words that are the foundation of our Roots of Respect curriculum: courage, citizenship, empathy, integrity, optimism, gratitude, perseverance / grit, responsibility, cooperation, and communication. Each year we focus on 5 of those words for 6-8 weeks each and embed a variety of experiences into the classroom and school environment. Teachers plan lessons to engage the students in thinking about and practicing the behaviors represented by each word.

To help students build a sense of community, teachers give them many opportunities to develop the listening and speaking skills necessary to be able to resolve problems on their own. Both school-wide and in the classroom, members of our community help establish the codes of acceptable behavior. When a conflict arises, students discuss and solve their own problems, either as a group or one-to- one, with adult guidance as needed. At times, the problem may need to be addressed with the whole group where every student is given an opportunity to speak, and every member of the circle is treated with equal importance. This can be in the form of a community circle, Council, or morning meeting. We understand that problems are expected and a part of learning. When those opportunities arise, it's a chance to work through those situations.

Our school is a place where we are teaching students to "respect themselves, respect others, and the environment."

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