4. Education
4.a Public Schools
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) is located in Los Angeles County and it serves the coastal communities of Santa Monica and Malibu.
SMMUSD has a population of 11,000 students in Transitional Kindergarten through 12th grade in 10 elementary schools, two middle schools, one middle / high school, one comprehensive high school, a continuation high school and a K – 8th grade alternative school.
SMASH –Santa Monica Alternative School House– is an optional K-8 public school with team teachers and multi-aged classrooms.
The district also manages 11 early childhood education centers and an adult school.
Some of the SMMUSD’s public elementary schools located in Santa Monica are: Edison Language Academy, Franklin Elementary School, Grant Elementary School, John Muir Elementary School, McKinley Elementary School, Santa Monica Alternative School House [SMASH], Roosevelt Elementary School, Will Rogers Learning Community Middle schools.
The district also manages these three public middle schools: John Adams Middle School, Lincoln Middle School and SMASH; and these two high schools: Olympic High School and Santa Monica High School.
Academic scores of the SMMUSD’s schools are consistently in the top tier of districts in both, Los Angeles County and the State of California.
Institutions such as Franklin Elementary School, McKinley Elementary School, Point Dume Elementary School, Roosevelt Elementary School, Webster Elementary School and Lincoln Middle School have been recognized as California Distinguished Schools; while Olympic High School has been named a Model Continuation High School in California – only one of some 25 schools out of nearly 500 continuation schools in the state.
4.b Private Schools
Among the private schools located in the city we find: Carlthorp School, Santa Monica Montessori School, Crossroads School, Saint Monica Catholic Elementary School, Concord High School, Pacifica Christian High School, St. Anne Catholic School, Saint Monica Catholic High School, New Roads School and PS1 Pluralistic School
4.b Area Colleges & Universities
For the residents pursuing higher education, there are several options in the city and in the nearby areas including: The Art Institute of California, Los Angeles; Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine, Mount St. Mary’s College, Santa Monica College (SMC), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), University of Phoenix, Culver City Learning Center, University of Southern California (USC) and Rand Graduate School.
4.c Library
The Santa Monica Main Library is located at 601 Santa Monica Blvd, and it also manages these four branches: Fairview Branch, Montana Avenue Branch, Ocean Park Branch and Pico Branch. All of them situated in Santa Monica.
These facilities are equipped with a variety of workstation configurations such as:
a) The Online Catalog and E-Source Workstations equipped with access to the Library’s online catalog and over 30 premium subscription databases.
b) E-Source/Word Stations equipped with access to the Library’s online catalog, subscription databases, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, and these Microsoft Office 2010 applications: Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. E-Source Plus stations are available at the Main Library near the 2nd Floor Reference Desk.
c) Internet Stations equipped with access to the Web via Internet Explorer and also access to the Library’s online catalog, subscription databases, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, and these Microsoft Office 2010 applications: Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.
d) Teen Stations are available for use by visitors registered with a Teen Library Card. These stations are equipped with access to the Web via Internet Explorer and also equipped with access to the Library’s online catalog,subscription databases, Photoshop Elements, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, and the following Microsoft Office 2010 applications: Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.
The Ocean Park Branch has a total of five stations for youth, which are shared by both teens and children.
e) Children’s Stations available for use by visitors registered with a Juvenile Library Card. These stations are equipped with access to the Web via Internet Explorer and also are equipped with access to the Library’s online catalog, subscription databases, interactive educational games, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, and the following Microsoft Office 2010 applications: Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.
The Ocean Park Branch has a total of five stations for younger visitors.
The Main Library and Branch Libraries offer rental meeting rooms with a wide variety of room setups and capacities such as the s study rooms (7 of them), YS Study Room Youth Services (for small groups of children or teens who need space to work together on projects), and a Quiet Study Room ( on the northeast corner of the 2nd floor for those who are seeking a quiet environment with tables for reading or studying).
These rooms are rented for a fee and can be reserved up to two months in advance by contacting the library directly.
In order to promote universal access to its collections and services, the Santa Monica Public Library offers multiple assistive devices such as DirectEar (Assistive Listening Devices available for use at programs held in the Main Library Multipurpose room and Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium); Large Print Keyboard (for the online catalog workstation adjacent to the 1st floor Fiction, with labels that have been enlarged and enhanced for easier visual recognition); a Roller Plus Joystick (an adaptable mouse substitute with a joystick); Magnifying Sheets (8.5 x 11 inch magnifying sheets can be signed out for use in the Library at the Main Library, in the 2nd floor Reference Desk, only during the hours that the Library is open); Telescope Viewer ( a very powerful closed-circuit television magnifying reading system that assists visitors who have low vision by magnifying text, pictures, and other physical items); a TTY/TTD Terminal equipped with public access telephone is available at the Main Library, on 2nd floor Reference desk, during the hours that the Library is open. A TDD/TTY which is an electronic device used by people with speech or hearing disabilities to text communication via the telephone lines.
Sign Language Interpreters, Translators and materials in alternate formats such as taped text, Braille, audio-description and captioning can be reserved for Library programs. For Reservations you can call the Library Administration at 310/458-8606 at least one week prior to the program.
The California Library Services for People with Print Disabilities in association with the Library of Congress provide free Braille and audio books, magazines and playback equipment to all residents unable to read standard print.
Free instructional classes are held in the Computer Training Room in the Main Library (601 Santa Monica Blvd) and at the branch libraries. The class teach how to use the Internet and the Library’s electronic resources.
