Pressroom & Stories

Alliance College-Ready Public Schools Prepares 300 Families and Students for College

L.A.-based charter network partners with college access and mental health experts to empower families for academic journey ahead 

Los Angeles, CA, October 24, 2024 Alliance-College Ready Public Schools, Los Angeles’ largest- public charter school network serving over 12,500 students, hosted its second annual Parent University Conference at California State University, Dominguez Hills. The event took place on October 5, 2025, and brought together Alliance families from the network’s 26 schools to learn more about how they can support their students academically and emotionally to and through college. 

The conference was an initiative inspired by members of the network’s Family CEO Advisory Council in 2023 who wanted to build a sense of community with one another and have better access to the resources they’ll need to walk confidently along with their children as they prepare to enter college. This is one of the many ways Alliance continues to foster college and career readiness that focuses on the whole child. 

“Parent University reminds me of why I do what I do. Witnessing so many families invest in their child’s education by attending this event, intently taking in all the information, and walking from session to session was truly inspiring. I hope that even more families attend in the future so they can get the support and resources they need to help their scholars succeed,.” says Aldwin Escuadro, Director of Family and Community Engagement for Alliance and Parent University organizer. 

This year’s workshops included information on a wide variety of topics, including “College Financial Aid 101,” “Transition from Middle School to High School,” “Bullying Awareness and Prevention,” and “Drug and Alcohol Prevention.” Families also had the opportunity to listen to the Parent Panel, where other Alliance families shared their personal experiences of supporting their children beyond high school. 

Following the event, families and students were invited to attend the Parent University: College & Resource Fair, which featured 30 colleges and universities across the country, including schools in the UC and CSU systems. Community-based organizations were also present to provide families with resources on job support, food banks, healthcare, and mental health. This content was strategically aligned with the feedback from Alliance’s End-of-Year Family Survey that expressed their community’s need for additional support in such areas.

Zacarias Lara, father of a 12th-grade student at Alliance Morgan McKinzie High School shared, “I felt very empowered and positive after Parent University and my resolve to help my daughter go to college was strengthened as a result of the event. I learned that students are encouraged to apply to at least 4 colleges and 4 universities, I learned strategies to avoid college drop out, I learned about financial aid and spoke directly to college counselors. My daughter is going to college no matter what!”

As Alliance celebrates its 20th anniversary, they are proud that their scholars are 3.5x more likely to graduate from college compared to students from similar socio-economic backgrounds. Programs like Parent University are just one of the many ways they are working towards this goal. Families who are interested in learning more about what Alliance College-Ready Public Schools is doing to help prepare their students for college and beyond, are encouraged to visit laalliance.org. Families seeking further information about the Parent University Conference may complete the interest form available at laalliance.org/parent-conference/. 

###

About Alliance

Alliance College-Ready Public Schools is one of the largest and most successful nonprofit public charter school networks in the nation, operating 26 high-performing, public charter middle and high schools that educate nearly 13,000 scholars from Los Angeles’ most vibrant Black and Latine communities.

Alliance schools have been recognized as among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, the U.S. Department of Education, and the California Department of Education. Since opening our first school in 2004, 95% of Alliance scholars have graduated from high school and been accepted to college. We strive to uplift our scholars and their communities by fostering unparalleled educational opportunities that encourage scholarly thought, resilient learning, powerful communication, mind-body wellness, and community advocacy. To learn more, visit www.LAalliance.org.


Kimberlee Hayes, [email protected]

Facebook
X
LinkedIn

Archive

Stay Connected

Stay up to date with news happening at LA Alliance.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

Subscribe

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.