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Malka Borrego
The California Charter Schools Association handed out nine Hart Vision Awards Tuesday at the 23rd Annual California Charter Schools Conference, and five of them were given to schools or leaders from the Los Angeles area.
Among the winners at the event, which is taking place Monday through Thursday at the Long Beach Convention Center, was The CHIME Institute for Charter Schools of the Year and Sarah Eun of Larchmont Charter School for Teacher of the Year. Equitas Academy Charter Schools Founder and CEO Malka Borrego and Ivy Bound Academy Founder and Director Kiumars Arzani both accepted awards honoring their schools as Schools of the Year.
In addition, Eli and Edythe Broad of the Broad Foundation were honored as Supporter of the Year.
“It’s really a wonderful honor and such a reflection of the hard work that our teachers and our students and our families put in on a day-to-day basis to make real our vision of a model for inclusive education,” CHIME Executive Director Erin Studer told LA School Report. “It’s an honor to get up there and accept the award but really I’m accepting it on behalf of amazing school community.”
Studer said he believed CCSA took notice of the school this year because of the focus it puts on the professional development of other charters and traditional schools.
“One of the things that I think really caused CCSA to notice or highlight our effort is we put a tremendous amount of time to disseminating our practices and providing professional development for other schools in Southern California as well as New York, for both charter and district-run schools. We have worked with 50 different schools, both charter and district schools, in the last three years,” Studer said.
The conference was attended this year by around 4,000 people, which was up from 2,500 attendees last year, according to CCSA.
Watch the below video to learn more about Equitas Academy Charter Schools and CHIME. Click here to learn more about each winner and click here to go to CCSA’s YouTube page to see videos from the event.