Working with the Culver City Chamber of Commerce and other key stakeholders throughout the local business and education community, the Culver City Unified School District has developed the Culver City Compact – a signed document that outlines the community’s commitment and vision for a bright educational future.
“This document turns the phrase ‘Success for All Takes Us All’ into a visionary and collaborative commitment. The Culver Compact is another reminder that we must all work together to create an educational environment that tends to the whole child and addresses student needs both inside and outside the classroom,” CCUSD Superintendent Dave LaRose said. “I am grateful so many leaders in Culver City have embraced and signed the Compact. We are all invested in and responsible for the future of our children, and this document underscores that investment.”
The Culver City Compact includes a wide range of signatories, including LaRose and CCUSD Board of Education President Laura Chardiet, repre-senting the entire board. Other signatories include: City of Culver City Mayor Jeff Cooper, Culver City Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Steven J. Rose, Culver City City Manager John Nachbar, President of West Los Angeles College Nabil Abu-Ghazaleh, Dean of Loyola Marymount University’s School of Education Ph.D. Shane P. Martin, Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Social Responsibility with Sony Pictures Entertainment Janice Pober, President of the Culver City Education Foundation Board of Trustees Marcia Shulman, President of the Culver City Council PTA Jody Reichel, Culver City Office of Child Development Director Audrey Stephens, Culver City Adult School and Culver Park Continuation High School Principal Veronica Montes, Culver City Association of Classified Employees President Debbie Hamme, Culver City Federation of Teachers President David Mielke and Fineshriber Family Foundation Executive Director Marcia Antopol.
The document seeks to achieve three primary goals: one, for all students to graduate from high school; two, that all students graduate high school with the skills, passion and sense of purpose to succeed in higher learning; lastly, to have all students have access to and experience in pathways to relevant, sustainable jobs and careers.
“Culver City is an incredible place where everyone works together to achieve common goals, so it is not surprising that we would all come together to sign a document like this,” Mayor Jeff Cooper said. “But what is really special is that we now have a single and clear direction for how we intend to create these important educational pathways for Culver City students. I am especially encouraged that we are looking at students of all ages and addressing the critical need for us to develop a workforce that is technology savvy, well-prepared and engaged for whatever the future job market throws at them.”
The Culver City Compact also outlines 10 specific strategies for working collaboratively among CCUSD, the city, the business community and throughout the community: to build collaborative leadership capacity; to share data; map community resources; identify, celebrate and expandsuccessful practices; invest in, develop and reinforce highquality teaching and learning in all classrooms; develop interagency professional learning communities focused on student learning; engage in a purposeful evaluation and assessment of current practices; coordinate advocacy for educational policy and funding issues; partner, create and enhance student pathways for workforce and career, and to ensure support services for all students and families.
“The Culver City Compact is a formalization of commitments to the children and youth of Culver City that we already share,” CCUSD Board of Education President Laura Chardiet, who initiated the effort to create the document, said. “All signatories of the Compact look forward to building on the existing close relationships, and leveraging the resources that benefit not only the school District but all stakeholders including the city, business, higher education, and our lovely community as a whole.”