Kyrene de los Cerritos Leadership Academy

Changemaker School
Illustration of buildings depicting an organization
Network Member Since 2014

Kyrene de los Cerritos Leadership Academy has a vision to prepare all students to meet educational and life challenges in order to make positive contributions to society. The school seeks to inspire and engage its diverse community of students, staff, families and citizens to ensure continuous academic achievement and personal growth for every student through its Leader In Me program, Cerritos strives to teach the whole child—socially, emotionally, academically, and ethically—and create a climate of principle-centered personal leadership. They embrace a culture of continuous performance excellence, real-world problem solving, innovative support, and acceptance of diversity. Parents and community members are active partners in fulfilling their mission and vision. The staff at Cerritos is dedicated to open communication and collaboration to meet the needs of every child. Kyrene de los Cerritos believes that one of the most important skills we can teach our students is empathy. If educators equip children to see and value what another person is feeling or experiencing, they will grow up in a world that embraces differences and encourages them to reach out to others. Kyrene de los Cerritos believes their role is to educate the “whole” child. All children are empathic by nature. They are affected by other people’s feelings and choose how they will respond. It is the educator’s job to support the development of those feelings in healthy directions. When Kyrene de los Cerritos teaches a child the importance of emotional intelligence along with academic intelligence, the educators are providing him/her with tools for the future no matter what that future may hold.