The Jefferson Transformation was launched by Green Dot in fall 2006 to radically increase student performance at Jefferson High School, traditionally LAUSD's lowest-performing high school. This project aims to re-structure the high school into a group of small, safe autonomous schools.
In fall 2006, five independent charter high schools opened with a total of 700 ninth-graders, most of whom would have attended Jefferson High School. These schools will add a grade in each of the following four years until they become full 9th-12th grade high schools with no more than 525 students each. With increased autonomy and small, personalized scale, these schools will eventually graduate over 80% of its students within four years and enroll over 75% of graduates in four-year college.
Ánimo Pat Brown
Ánimo Pat Brown is named for the former Governor of California who was instrumental in building the California public university system and the state's transportation infrastructure.
Ánimo Ralph Bunche
Ánimo Ralph Bunche is named for the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize winner, an alumnus of Jefferson High School, UCLA, and Harvard. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for successfully negotiating armistice agreements between Israel and four neighboring Arab nations in 1949.
Ánimo Jackie Robinson
With the blessing of The Jackie Robinson Foundation, Ánimo Jackie Robinson is named for the baseball player who became the first African-American to play in the major leagues in 1947.
Ánimo Film & Theatre Arts
Ánimo FTA began its life as a Small Learning Community within Jefferson High School. It is now a project-based Green Dot school that allows students to get a head start on their future careers. Students turn their interests into passions by integrating them into long-term school projects.
Ánimo Justice
In keeping with Green Dot's principles of school autonomy, Ánimo Justice was named by the students because of their passion for education as a means to achieve social justice.