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Camino Nuevo Charter Academy (CNCA) is a K-5 public charter elementary school located in the MacArthur Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. CNCA was founded by Pueblo Nuevo Development Corporation (PND), a non-profit community development corporation that created the school in response to the concerns of community residents about their children's education.
CNCA provides a new model for public education in Los Angeles, and around the country. It is a community school whose goals are to provide language proficiency and educational excellence in a safe and nurturing school environment. Equally important, CNCA involves parents in the process of their children's learning through a parent contract, and provides educational and job training opportunities for parents at the school after classroom hours.
One of four school founded by PND, CNCA was founded with the cooperation of a distinguished group of educators in the Los Angeles area. In addition to language proficiency the curriculum includes extensive arts education, and an extended school day and school year. CNCA is part of an innovative PND strategy for the revitalization of MacArthur Park neighborhood, that also includes economic development and a wide mix of social services.
In addition to its innovations in education and community building, the Burlington campus of CNCA is characterized by an outstanding architectural design that has received national recognition, and that eliminated the blight caused by a former mini-mall that had stood abandoned for many years. The design by Daly Genik introduces bright and colorful landmark architecture into an otherwise undistinguished physical environment.
The Selection Committee chose CNCA as the 2003 Gold Medal winner in recognition of the importance of an elementary school as a vehicle for community revitalization; its grass roots beginnings; its ambitious and complex agenda including education, job training, and other social services; and its outstanding architectural excellence. The Committee also noted the enormous potential of a school to provide opportunity and change lives, as well as the importance of neighborhood residents "owning" the impetus for change in their community.
[Visit Project Website]
[Read the Bruner Foundation Case Study]
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