Magnolia to Open First Elementary School in San Fernando Valley

LOS ANGELES, June 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The Magnolia Educational and Research Foundation was given the go-ahead this week to operate a new elementary school serving the San Fernando Valley in Southern California. The unanimous decision to approve the Magnolia Science Academy - 7 (MSA-7) was announced by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) following a board meeting on June 15. This is a significant step for the California-based charter school organization, which runs nine middle and high schools throughout the state.

"This is a great milestone for us," said Suleyman Bahceci, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of the Magnolia Foundation. "Many of our families in the Valley have been asking for a school for their younger children for a long time. These are families who have limited high quality school choices."

MSA-7 will provide the same high quality curriculum offered in other Magnolia Schools, with an emphasis on math, science and technology. The school will open this fall, along with Magnolia Science Academy – Bell (MSA-8), a new middle school in the city of Bell approved through an LAUSD Public School Choice Resolution.

The Magnolia Educational and Research Foundation is a non-profit educational organization that has been operating charter schools throughout California since 2002. All its schools have a curriculum focusing on math, science and technology, and provide a high quality education to low-income students from ethnically diverse backgrounds. In 2009, the Magnolia Foundation received a statewide benefit charter from the California State Board of Education (SBE) to start ten charter schools throughout the state over the next six years. The approval was a testament to the foundation's success, as it was only the third time that the SBE granted such permission in California. The first two schools (Pacific Technology School - Orangevale and Pacific Technology School - Santa Ana) opened in Sacramento and Orange County in August 2009.

A report published by the California Department of Education ranked Magnolia Science Academy – Reseda (MSA-1), the first school established by the Magnolia Foundation, in the top ten percent of schools in its category in 2010. This year, 42 students will graduate from the school at a ceremony during which LA County Sheriff Leroy Baca will deliver the commencement address.

For more information visit www.magnoliacharterschools.org or call (310) 327 2841.

SOURCE Magnolia Educational and Research Foundation