Best Association Or Organization Inglewood Near Me

4worldlovers: Thank you to everyone who attended and made it a space where we could have honest dialogue about the concerns, the needs, the successes and the struggles in IUSD. A deep love of our district and a commitment to fixing and improving IUSD was shared by teachers, parents, students, classified, community organizations and community members on Friday night.

It was universally accepted that in order for us to transform this district, many changes from new facilities, bringing high quality programs, vocational education, meaningful and useful professional development, change in how students are viewed and treated, affordable rents, vibrant community libraries, support of classified, district listening to teachers, retaining and recruitment of students and increasing teacher wages so that they are not the lowest paid in the county is necessary.

Parent's frustration with the district was evident when discussions became heated. Frustration with lack of support from politicians such as State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and Assemblymember Autumn Burke was also expressed.


Inglewood Teachers Association reminded the district that they had taken cuts in years past via furlough days and concessions to health benefits in order to help the district correct financial problems due largely to district mismanagement of monies. Despite the cuts teachers took, the district did nothing to make the needed and necessary changes. As a result of the district's continuous mismanagement of monies, it was made clear by ITA that cuts to salary and/or health benefits will no longer be tolerated and that the district needs to work in true partnership with the teachers, parents and community in order to make the necessary changes. If the district chooses not to work with ALL stakeholders, then ITA, parents and the community will be forced to do what they must do in order for the changes to take place.


Parents: Ava Barnett from Bennett Kew and Cecily Myart-Cruz from Oak Street Elementary

Teachers: Shannah Muhammad (SLG Advisor) , David Brown (PAC Chair), Aba Ngissah (ITA president)

Jasmine Ortega, Southern California Lesson, California Department of Education, Communications Division;

CalPro President and Vice President, Cheryl Joseph and Fernando Olmedo; CalPro Representative, Chris Graeber; Inglewood Library Reprentatives; Uplift Inglewood, Woodrow Curry; Inglewood Council of PTA President, Maria Gray-McKinley; Frank D. Parent PTA President, Miriam Morris.

Dr. Thelma Melendez (State Appointed Trustee), Dr. Carmen Beck (Chief Academic Officer), Nora Roque (Executive Director Human Resources), Ugema James (Executive Director - Elementary Education) Dr. Carliss McGhee (Advisory Board President), Dr. D'Artagnan Scourza (Advisor Board Member)

A BIG THANK YOU to Lennox Teachers Association President, Brian Gurerro, and the Lennox teachers who came out to support us.

"Giving Every Child, Every Chance, Every Day...TO SUCCEED." --- Inglewood Teachers Association

​State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced Dr. Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana as his selection for State Administrator for the Inglewood Unified School District.

“Thelma Meléndez has a strong combination of leadership skills and experience managing school districts,” Torlakson said. “She will continue the district’s positive momentum.”


Meléndez most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of the Office of Educational Services in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She was also Superintendent at the Pomona Unified and Santa Ana Unified School Districts, and served as Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education in the U.S. Department of Education. The American Association of School Administrators named her the California Superintendent of the Year in 2009. She will begin her appointment August 16, 2017.


“The Inglewood school community has the ingredients for greatness, and it will be an honor to lead the district into the next phase of progress for all students,” Meléndez said. “Partnering with parents, teachers, the school board, and the community, we will strive for excellence in every classroom, for every child, every day. I am eager and ready to roll up my sleeves to get to work.”


Dr. Meléndez began her career as a teacher in the Montebello Unified School District. More recently, she was appointed Chief Advisor on Education and Workforce Development by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.


She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education, and a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles. Meléndez is also a member of the California State University Board of Trustees.