A trailblazing academic program.
A uniquely diverse community.
Rooted in the city we call home.

Located in the heart of Old Hollywood, the School of Los Angeles is a co-ed, college-preparatory day school serving grades six through twelve. Over half of our students receive need-based tuition assistance, empowering us to bring together a community that truly reflects the diversity of the city. Through experiential and project-based approaches to learning, our students engage in a comprehensive and challenging liberal arts and STEM curriculum, including courses in cutting-edge fields like ecology, computer science, ethnic studies, music production, and filmmaking.

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What Is the True Cost of a Stratified Education System?

Decades of studies have shown that the greatest determinants of any child’s outcomes later in life are the social connections they form early in life—and that students from diverse learning environments have greater cultural competencies, are more empathetic, more creative, and better prepared for higher education and life beyond.

But according to recent wide-ranging studies by the UCLA Civil Rights Project, racial and economic segregation in Los Angeles schools is now starker than it has been in over half a century. The price of an independent education has been on the rise, and it presents a barrier to entry that is insurmountable for most families. Public and charter schools are often under-resourced and stymied by geographic segregation.

Ages eleven through eighteen are profoundly formative years in a young person’s life. These are the years when a student comes to understand herself as a citizen, a member of society, a political and ethical being. What happens when young people from different backgrounds spend these formative years largely isolated from one another? What is the true cost of a stratified education system?

Breaking down the barriers in our society goes hand in hand with breaking down the barriers in our education system. At the School of Los Angeles, we have posed a new question: What happens when committed students from all walks of life spend every day in the classroom or out in the city together—growing, learning, and forming lifelong bonds? What happens when they are given the tools to understand their own histories, the history of the city, and the possibilities of social transformation?

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Experience the SLA Difference

At the School of Los Angeles, we abide one simple truth: The best educational tool for any young person is the collaboration and camaraderie of peers from different backgrounds—peers who have stories and perspectives to share, the stuff of life that simply cannot be gleaned from a textbook. And the best approach to learning is through direct, sustained, and genuine connection to real-world experiences.

Rather than simply hand students the formulae and principles of Newtonian mechanics, we ask them to build and launch rockets—to derive and test those formulae through experiment and reflection. Rather than simply hand students written accounts of current social phenomena, we ask them to enter the field, observe, and pursue inquiry-based learning.

A truly exceptional, transformative education requires a diverse environment grounded in hands-on learning. It gives students access to entire worlds and worldviews they might never otherwise encounter. It opens their hearts and minds to the contexts, concerns, and joys of others—knowledge that will forever shape their convictions and actions in life.

Our students have always embraced the City of Los Angeles as their classroom. They have organized direct outreach to our unhoused neighbors in Hollywood. They have lived at the mission on Skid Row. They have conducted site-specific lab work to study the ecology of the L.A. River, and have interrogated the relationship between river revitalization efforts and urban development. They have grappled with the ethics of artificial intelligence. They have marched and participated in mass direct actions downtown in support of climate justice and other student-led social movements. They have studied the prison-industrial complex with formerly incarcerated activists and scholars. They have studied US immigration policy on both sides of the southern border, supporting the families of DREAMers and undocumented veterans. They have founded and sustained our Feminist Club and our Gender and Sexual Diversity Association. They perform plays and musicals at venues in Hollywood’s historic Theatre Row, just blocks from our campus. They engage in the vibrant cultural life of the city, exploring its many neighborhoods and participating in the intellectual and aesthetic lives of its people.

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See Yourself at SLA

Begin the Admission Process Today

At the School of Los Angeles, we bring together an uncommonly diverse community—including many families who are brand new to independent schools—and this requires an uncommon approach to admissions. The application process for Los Angeles secondary schools is notoriously stressful. We know that doesn’t have to be the case, and everything we do is designed to move against that grain.

We do not consider standardized test scores, nor do we administer our own testing, because we know that the full character, empathy, and ingenuity of a young person cannot be reduced to an hour-long assessment. In order to connect with families who are inspired by and invested in our mission and ethos, we prioritize open and relaxed dialogue, genuine face time, and high-touch support. It’s no coincidence that we are able to send our graduates to a remarkable array of the world’s top research universities and liberal arts colleges, many of which are adopting similar admission practices.

Join us for a tour of campus, our fall open house, or a panel discussion with students, faculty, and families. We look forward to sharing some time with you!