About Partnership to Uplift Communities
The mission of Partnerships to Uplift Communities (PUC Schools) is to uplift communities through the creation of high quality public charter schools in which students are inspired and prepared to graduate from high school and university and commit to uplift their communities now and forever.
Our vision is to facilitate school reform through a regional approach currently focused on the communities of Northeast Los Angeles and the Northeast San Fernando Valley.
OUR HISTORY
Partnerships to Uplift Communities, PUC Schools, is a non-profit organization comprised of 14 public charter schools located in the NE San Fernando Valley and NE Los Angeles. Community Charter Middle School is the oldest PUC school which was founded by Dr. Jacqueline Elliot in 1999 for the students who lived in and around the community of Pacoima. A public-school educator who began teaching in 1986, Jacqueline gathered 100 families who along with her desperately sought a higher quality middle school option for the children in the community. Together, they worked hard with tenacity and determination to open the first startup public charter middle school in the San Fernando Valley, Community Charter Middle School. Opening with 100 sixth grade students on the campus of CSUN because their school facility was not yet ready, the school was immediately embraced by the community, gaining popularity and achieving at a high level very quickly.
The California Academy for Liberal Studies (CALS) is the second oldest PUC school which was founded in 2000 by Dr. Ref Rodriguez and 100 families in NE Los Angeles, also to provide a better middle school option for the community.
In response to parent and community requests and growing waiting lists, the founders opened additional schools in their two respective communities and created the umbrella organization for the schools, Partnerships to Uplift Communities (PUC schools), in 2004.
Today, there are 14 PUC schools, middle, high, and elementary, all authorized by LAUSD, serving over 4,200 students in the NE San Fernando Valley and NE Los Angeles. With several California Distinguished Schools, Gold Ribbon Schools, a high school graduation rate that exceeds 90%, approximately 70% of graduates admitted to 4 year universities, and over 100 alumni working in the network, the PUC schools have become highly valued, public school options for the families in the NE San Fernando Valley and NE Los Angeles.
The guiding principles for the PUC schools are the same as they were in 1999 when the first school opened. These principles are embodied in PUC’s 3 Commitments: Increase the college graduation rate by 5 times in the communities we serve; Students will be proficient after 4 years in PUC; Students commit to uplift our communities now and forever.
PUC National, founded in 2013, is also a non-profit organization that serves to promote, support, benefit, replicate, and carry out the purposes and mission of Partnerships to Uplift Communities (PUC Schools) and other such public charter schools or educational programs. With its team of highly qualified experts, PUC National also provides support services to the PUC schools in areas that include but are not limited to finance, human resources, operations, food service support, alumni relations, legal, IT, data and student information systems, and advocacy.
MILESTONES
1999 PUC Community Charter Middle School is established
2000 PUC CALS Charter Middle School is established
2003 PUC CALS Early College High School is established
2004 Partnerships to Uplift Communities, Inc. is established
2004 PUC Lakeview Charter Academy is established
2004 PUC Milagro Charter Elementary School is established
2004 PUC Community Charter Early College High School is established
2006 PUC Excel Charter Academy is established
2007 PUC Triumph Charter Academy is established
2009 PUC Santa Rosa Charter Academy is established
2009 PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy is established
2010 PUC Triumph Charter High School is established
2010 PUC Lakeview Charter High School is established
2011 PUC Early College Academy for Leaders and Scholars (eCALS) is established
2013 PUC National is established
2014 PUC Community Charter Elementary School is established
2014 PUC Community Charter Middle School and PUC Community Charter Early College High School merged under one charter petition
2014 PUC Triumph Charter Academy and PUC Triumph Charter High School merged under one charter petition
2014 PUC Inspire Charter Academy is established
2015 PUC CALS Charter Middle School and PUC CALS Early College High School merged under one charter petition