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January 1, 2008
Contents
S.E.A.
DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE
COUNCILMEMBER
ED REYES &
HIGHLAND PARK
FULL
CIRCLE FOR S.E.A.
S.E.A.
GALA EVENT
Calendar
January
2
Staff Meeting
January 7
Dr. King Essay
Contest
January 14
AP
Meeting at LACOE
Janua Winter
Vacation
January 21
SEA’s Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Service: 8:00 a.m. - 1:00
p.m.
Salvation Army - Harbor Light
(809 E 5th Street,
LA, CA 90013)
Beautification Projects
January 22
ADA
Assembly
January 28
Parent
Educators Meeting
S.E.A. DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE
Champions for
Our
Youth
We often hear about the downside of our
educational system and increases in criminal activity among
our inner city youth from news sources, but at S.E.A. we have
found that a holistic approach to education – one that
provides counseling, academic assistance, specialized programs
and activities – can provide the support that children need in
order to discover their true value as active members of a
society. Each year, as we graduate hundreds of students
from S.E.A. Charter High Schools, we are further convinced
that in the right educational environment once-struggling
students will achieve academic success.
We know that youth
are our greatest resource and that as parents, extended family
members, educators, counselors, medical practitioners and
friends, we are charged with the great responsibility of
guiding their growth and development. This is why, in the New Year, I encourage our
administrators, teachers, support staff, student body and
volunteers to continue to aim high and aim toward
excellence. Together we will continue to make
S.E.A. programs a success and strengthen our
communities.
Cesar
Calderon
Executive Director |
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By Ed P. Reyes, Los Angeles City
Councilmember
S.E.A. and Highland
Park
 One teen was placed at Soledad
Enrichment Action’s new Highland Park school after he was
incarcerated in juvenile hall, according to a school
administrator. Eighty days later, after working with S.E.A.
educators and counselors, he has turned his life around and is
college bound.
This teen is a familiar S.E.A. success
story amid a population in Los Angeles where about half of
students drop out of high school, according to a Harvard
University study. At S.E.A. charter schools, more than
two-thirds of the students that pass through the classrooms go
on to college. S.E.A.—with its smaller classrooms, counseling
and parenting classes—gives students a final chance at a high
school diploma.
S.E.A. has brought its renowned
educational model to the Soledad Enrichment Charter High
School, which opened last August on Figueroa Street in
Highland Park. In addition to offering at-risk youth a
tight-knit community of teachers, counselors and mentors, the
new school also preserves the rich historic beauty of the
area. S.E.A. essentially transformed a trash-strewn,
graffiti-tagged building in the City’s largest Historic
Preservation Overlay Zone to serve youth, their families and
community at-large. In short, S.E.A. has brought home, and
hope, to Highland Park.
S.E.A. HIGHLIGHT
It's Full Circle for
S.E.A.
 In 1972, a group of
mothers
met in a church in East Los Angeles to
discuss the vulnerable state of their children as a result of
increased violence in their neighborhoods. The goals
they set forth that day through the organization they founded
would change the lives of many at risk youth and resonate
within the community for many years to come.
Thirty-five years later, Soledad Enrichment Action’s
19th charter school opening is proof that their dedication and
legacy continues. The new high school is located
directly across the street from the Highland Park Presbyterian
Church, where S.E.A. first began.
Built in 1893 as a
single-family dwelling, the school was once home to a doctor
and his practice. Later, it fell into neglect and was
abandoned until three years ago when renovation efforts came
underway to restore the property to its original
grandeur.
Today, it is a base from where teachers,
mentors and guidance counselors strive to provide the most
essential quality programs for which S.E.A. is well
known. At the new school, S.E.A.’s curriculum will be
complimented by the introduction of new parenting courses, and
collaboration from the City of Los Angeles’ Department of
Recreation, which will enable the school to meet the student
body’s physical education needs. Programs like the
Atlantic Recovery Drug and Alcohol after School Program, and
the Be Well Now Institute for Mental Health will also be
included.
“Aside from its historical charm, the school
offers its students the support of a tight-knit community,”
said Sean Baggett, a S.E.A. special education
coordinator. There is a real sense of community here,
and a certain appeal or draw to the area: one so compelling
that it convinced Baggett to move there. “I am happy to
be part of this area as it flourishes. I chose to move
to Highland Park to be near my students and to be able to
experience what they experience on a daily basis,” added
Baggett.
CELEBRATING 35
YEARS
S.E.A. Gala
Event
 On November 1, 2007 S.E.A. hosted its second
Annual Gala celebrating 35 years of service. More than
250 supporters attended the event-fundraiser honoring the
Reverend Richard Estrada of Jovenes Inc., Alicia Lara of
United Way of Greater Los Angeles, California State Assembly
Speaker Fabian Nuñez, and Angela Sanbrano of the National
Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities.
The event was held at the Center at the Cathedral Plaza in
Downtown Los Angeles.
SEA, Inc. is a
non-profit organization committed to bringing hope to
communities through education by providing at - risk youth and
their families with viable alternatives to gangs, drugs, and
violence. S.E.A. offers a holistic approach to academic
instruction that strengthens the lives of at-risk youth and
that of their entire family. S.E.A.’s programs offer a
successful charter high school education and provide
comprehensive wrap-around support services to more than 4,400
youth and their families each year.
 
Pictured (L-R, T-B) Alicia Lara
of United Way of Greater Los Angeles and California State
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, Los Angeles Councilman Jose
Huizar and wife Richelle Rios, and Reverend Richard
Estrada of Jovenes Inc.
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