New permanent campus for Valor Academy Elementary School may be coming to North Hills
Valor Academy receives approval from L.A. City Council to relocate its elementary school campus to historic North Hills property.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Nearly one hundred students, parents and teachers gathered at L.A. City Hall Tuesday, urging the City Council Planning and Land Use Committee to support a new permanent campus for Valor Academy Elementary School.
The committee denied two appeals against the school and approved the relocation plan for the new campus.
"Right now, we're currently located at Panorama Baptist Church. While it is a fabulous location, it's a very small school and we've had to reduce our enrollment because of this. We have the property; we just need to get it built," said Valor Academy Elementary School Principal May Oey.
"I do like it, but I do wish it was a bigger area and bigger classrooms," said student Adrian Hernandez about the school's current location.
The proposed site for the elementary school is located on Plummer Street in North Hills.
"Our students need a permanent facility. This location in North Hills is really close to our Valor Academy Middle School and high school," said Angelina Calderon, Senior Director of Outreach & Engagement for Bright Star Schools.
Many parents and staff members say a new campus would allow easier access to drop-off students and would create more space for after-school activities.
"We want something with less traffic, more organization, more space for us to drop off our children if we have to walk, if we have to drive, a safer place," said parent Maria Marcos.
But many community members and residents oppose the location because they think the space is better suited for a park and a museum.
In a statement, the President of the North Hills Preservation Consortium Debora Masterson stated: "We already have 12 elementary schools in North Hills, a town of 5.5 square miles ... Building an additional elementary school during a time of declining enrollment in an area that has an abundance of school choices doesn't make any sense."
Masterson also says the school will take over the historic Plummer Street house and while preserving it, the house will no longer be open to the public.
The next step for Valor Academy is to have city council members approve the final construction plan for its new campus.
Follow Amanda on social media:
