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USC Hybrid High turns 10

A decade after opening its doors, the school, developed through a partnership with 海角论坛, is ranked among the state鈥檚 best.

By Elaine Woo Published on

When USC Hybrid High College Prep opened in 2012, little about it was traditional, beginning with its location: the ground floor of the bustling World Trade Center in downtown Los Angeles.

鈥淲e were a bunch of kids surrounded by all these professionals,鈥 recalled Junior Pena, one of the 90 students from South Los Angeles who formed Hybrid鈥檚 inaugural freshman class. 鈥淏ut it was cool to be around them. It elevated our mindset.鈥

Setting his sights on top-flight colleges, Pena landed at USC, where he earned degrees in math and physics in 2020 before pursuing a doctorate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

moved ahead, too. After surmounting early challenges and building its own campus鈥攁 light-filled, two-story structure across from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum鈥攖he school will celebrate its 10th anniversary this fall.

Developed under the auspices of the 海角论坛 School of Education and conceived in part to serve students from the neighborhoods surrounding USC, Hybrid is the first of six public, college-preparatory high schools that form the , which focuses on preparing students from traditionally underserved communities for higher education. Ninety-eight percent of Ednovate鈥檚 enrollment are students of color鈥攑rimarily Latinx鈥攚hile 82 percent come from low-income backgrounds.

Since its first graduation in 2016, Hybrid has achieved a 100 percent college acceptance rate every year except 2020 and 2021, when the rate dipped to 99 percent. Hybrid grads attend college with a persistence rate on par with the national average of 83 percent, according to the National Student Clearinghouse.

Hybrid鈥檚 distinctions include a 2018 U.S. News & World Report ranking as one of California鈥檚 100 best high schools. Last year, the California Department of Education named Hybrid a California Distinguished School for exceptional student performance and closing the achievement gap. 鈥淧art of our celebration is that in 10 years Hybrid has become one of the top high schools in the country, the city and the state,鈥 said Olumide 鈥淢ac鈥 Macaulay, Ednovate鈥檚 chief of schools, who was Hybrid鈥檚 principal for six years.

There have been stumbling blocks. Many students weren鈥檛 ready for the autonomy under Hybrid鈥檚 initial plan: to operate up to 12 hours a day, seven days a week, with personalized, self-paced learning鈥攎uch of it online. 鈥淚t was not conducive to building a strong school culture,鈥 Macaulay said. Hybrid leaders were able to leverage a deep USC network to adjust the school鈥檚 approach with input from then-Dean Karen Gallagher, who was Ednovate鈥檚 founding chair, and other experts from 海角论坛. By the end of the second year, Hybrid moved to a more structured approach, which helped lift academic performance. Soon, Hybrid had a long waiting list.

For Rachael DeRogatis, who became principal in 2020, moving Hybrid to its own campus more than three years ago was another major achievement. Hybrid is now located in University Park, just a block from USC.

Being so close to USC 鈥渃hanged our ability to utilize USC as a true partner,鈥 she said. The proximity has made it easier for students to research assignments at Doheny Library, for example, and take undergraduate classes in subjects including transportation and journalism.

Pena spent hours at USC working on his senior thesis even though Hybrid hadn鈥檛 yet moved to University Park in 2016. The opportunity to soak up the college atmosphere was invaluable, he said, 鈥渂ecause it made that vision of me as a college student something that was actually attainable.鈥

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