Daniel Pearl Magnet High School (DPMHS) is a

magnet school In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school ...

within the

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...

in Lake Balboa, Los Angeles,Map
. ''Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council''. Retrieved on December 6, 2008. near

Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, ...

,Llanos, Connie.
Daniel Pearl Magnet High School small but mighty
." ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''D ...

''. August 19, 2011. Retrieved on September 1, 2011. in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

. It is the smallest comprehensive high school in LAUSD. The high school offers a complete academic program with an emphasis on journalism and communications.

History

The school started as a part of

Birmingham High School Birmingham Community Charter High School (formerly Birmingham High School) is a charter coeducational high school in the neighborhood/district of Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was ...

in 1995. In May 2007, the Magnet was renamed. Its current name honors

Daniel Pearl Daniel Pearl (October 10, 1963 – February 1, 2002) was an American journalist who worked for ''The Wall Street Journal.'' He was kidnapped and later decapitated by terrorists in Pakistan.' Pearl was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and rais ...

, a

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

reporter killed by terrorists who was an alumnus of Birmingham High School. Prior to Pearl Magnet's separation from Birmingham, Birmingham became an independent charter school within LAUSD. About 66% of the faculty members of the school supported it. Because of the divisions within teachers and other staff members, the faculty and staff of the magnet program received permission from LAUSD to split from Birmingham. In 2009, DPMHS was formed as an independent high school on the Birmingham campus. Connie Llanos of the ''

'' said that Pearl "got off to a rocky start." During the first year as a standalone school, one third of the students left. Some left due to conflicts with Birmingham staff and students; some Birmingham students and staff members tormented Pearl students. Some left because Pearl was so small; they wanted a more comprehensive high school experience. DPMHS showed academic prowess as a standalone school. In the Spring 2011 semester, 94% of the tenth grade students passed the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) on the first attempt. It is one of the highest passing rates of the rates of the high schools within the district. As of 2011 the school has an 80% graduation rate, while the average LAUSD graduation rate is 56%. In addition, 72% of the Pearl classes meet university entrance requirements. In 2010 Pearl moved into a former special education center adjacent to Birmingham. Its current location is made up of the last buildings remaining from Birmingham General Hospital. The site had previously been occupied by West Valley School since 1970. During that year the school had 313 students, while it had a capacity of 500. Pearl is among the smallest high schools in the LAUSD. Most classes had 30 or less students, and some classes had 12 students each. Many LAUSD high schools have classes of 40 students.

Academics

DPMHS offers a complete college preparation program, with 72% of the courses offered meeting entrance requirements of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, University of Califor ...

. The school had a 94% pass rate for the 2011 CAHSEE, the third highest in LAUSD. In addition, it had an API Score of 823 for the 2011–2012 academic year. At the June, 2010 graduation, 65 of 68 seniors graduated, which gave the school a 95.5% pass rate, compared to 53% for LAUSD. For the June, 2016 graduation, 93 of 94 seniors graduated, which is a 98.9% pass rate. In May, 2016, ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked DPMHS in the top 4.3% (845 out of 19,908) of public high schools in the United States, and awarded the school a Silver Medal ranking. The School was also ranked in the same study as #120 in the nationwide ranking of Magnet Schools. These scores indicate that DPMHS is considered to be the top performing public non-charter High School in the San Fernando Valley. All areas of academic classes are offered at DPMHS: *Mathematics **Algebra I **Geometry **Algebra II **Trigonometry **AP Calculus *English **Composition **American Literature **World Literature **AP English Literature **AP English Language *Social Sciences **World History **Geography **US History **Government **Economics *Modern Languages **Spanish **Spanish for Spanish Speakers *Science **Biology **Chemistry **Physics *Journalism **Journalism **Newspaper **Yearbook *Media **Video Production **Film Making *Music *Athletics **Physical Education **Sports (at Birmingham High School)

Publications

''The Pearl Post'' is the student newspaper published at DPMHS. On June 26, 2016, the

Los Angeles Press Club The Los Angeles Press Club is an American journalism organization founded in 1913. It honors journalists through its annual National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and SoCal Journalism Awards. The Board of Directors includes the organi ...

recognized ''The Pearl Post'' as High School Newspaper of the Year, stating that "The Pearl Post combines an exciting range of articles, photos, and opinion pieces in a well-organized layout, making it easier and quicker to find sections of interest and, thus, keeping its readers coming back for more."

Censorship

In November 2021, students wrote an article about the district's COVID protocols, and named a librarian who refused to comply with the district's vaccine mandate, resulting in the closure of the school's library. The librarian complained to the principal, alleging that the story violated HIPAA. The principal ordered Adriana Chavira, student newspaper advisor, to censor the student paper by removing the librarian's name. She refused, with the support of the

Student Press Law Center The Student Press Law Center (SPLC) is a non-profit organization in the United States that aims to protect press freedom rights for student journalists at high school and university student newspapers. It is dedicated to student free-press righ ...

and the family of Daniel Pearl. In September of 2022, the principal suspended the teacher without pay, but in an appeal hearing on September 16, the district rescinded the suspension.

Houses

In the Spring 2011 semester, Houses were introduced as a part of the school culture. The houses are named after famous journalists. Members of the Houses are awarded House Points for academic, athletic, or service achievements; points are deducted for infractions such as tardiness, missing homework, or violation of class or school rules. All of the Houses compete for the House Cup, which is awarded at an annual Banquet at the end of the school year. As of August 2019, the system of Houses has been abolished, as its overseer and founder has retired from teaching.

House of the Year

References

External links

Daniel Pearl Magnet High School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearl, Daniel Magnet School High schools in the San Fernando Valley Public high schools in Los Angeles Lake Balboa, Los Angeles Los Angeles Unified School District schools Magnet schools in California Van Nuys, Los Angeles Educational institutions established in 2009 2009 establishments in California