| Academia Avance Charter | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
 | |
115 N Ave 53 Highland Park, Los Angeles, California | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 2005 |
| Director | Ricardo Mireles |
| Principal | Josh Frankfort MS/Ricardo Gonzalez HS |
| Enrollment | 350 |
| Campus | Urban |
| Mascot | Guerrero Jaguars |
Academia Avance Charter (AA) is a public charter middle and high school in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, approximately seven miles northeast of downtown. It is part of the Los Angeles County Board of Education and chartered through the California State Board of Education.
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First established in 2005 with an enrollment of 100 students, Academia Avance has since grown to a student body of approximately 350 students from grades six to twelve across two campuses: a middle school location by Sycamore Grove Park and a high school location in the basement of a Presbyterian church at North Avenue 53 and Figueroa Street. [1]
In 2017, Academia Avance gained international media attention after an eighth grade student filmed ICE agents arresting her undocumented father Rómulo Avelica as he was dropping her and her sister off at the middle school campus. The video [2] eventually went viral and sparked widespread outcry among critics of United States immigration policy. [3] Through the efforts of immigrants' rights activists, Avelica was freed from detention that same year. [4]
On October 15, 2019, the Los Angeles Unified School District denied the renewal of Academia Avance's Charter [5] stating that "the charter school presents an unsound educational program for the pupils to be enrolled in the charter school." [6] On March 12, 2020, the California State Board of Education approved the renewal of Academia Avance's charter. The current charter will enable the school to continue operating until the end of the 2024–2025 school year.[ citation needed ]
