Community Engagement

Through community engagement opportunities, each grade level at Los Encinos works with a partner organization on age-appropriate, meaningful activities, and experiences that integrate with their classroom studies while fostering a sense of responsibility and selflessness.

During the 2022-2023 school year, for example, kindergarten students collected coins each month, learned about the needs at LA Family Housing, and took a class field trip to Target in the spring to purchase supplies for families in need.

Our first-graders held a Community Walk in our neighborhood. They visited several businesses such as the Habit, Chase Bank, and Smart & Final, and interviewed the employees about their jobs and what it’s like to work in the community.

We also ordered a pizza lunch to be delivered to our local Fire Station 83, and they came to campus to give the first-graders and their fifth-grade buddies a lesson in being community helpers (see photo gallery above). They were clearly moved when we presented them with our giant, hand-made, pizza-inspired cards of gratitude (with hearts in the place of pepperoni)!

In second grade, the students held food drives to benefit the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry. They also led a battery recycling drive and a plastic bag collection.

Third-grade students learned about the LA River in their social studies curriculum. They partnered with Friends of the LA River to participate in a water lab, create water filtration devices, and make native seed pods to later grow in our Los Encinos native garden.

Fourth-grade students, who learned about landforms and California, created items to sell at their “Shade Sale” raising money for Tree People. (Watch the ‘promo video’ they made below.)

Fifth-grade students partnered with Para Los Niños, a school in downtown Los Angeles dedicated to helping the city’s neediest children and families. Our students fostered a buddy relationship with their first-grade students by creating literacy centers and reading them the books we brought. There was extra joy when the Para Los Niños students realized the books were theirs to keep as gifts!

Sixth-graders created their own service-learning projects by researching a passion, writing about it, and creating TED talks to inspire the action piece. In Makerspace, the sixth-graders led their peers to create two Buddy Benches. One was placed at Los Encinos and the other at an LA Family Housing site. Sitting on the bench allows anyone feeling lonely to put a subtle word out to the group that a friend would be welcome. It’s a wonderful way to foster a sense of belonging. (Watch videos of these projects on the Class of 2023 page).

Several school-wide initiatives brought the entire Los Encinos School community together to participate in food drives and clothing drives which were led and run by students in various grade levels. The drives supported organizations, such as LA Family Housing, North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry, and One Warm Coat. Beyond the donations, parent involvement was key as they helped collect and sort the items with the students.

In November, Los Encinos celebrated Veteran’s Day with several activities benefiting veterans at LA Family Housing. Parents were on campus assisting students with their projects and supporting them in understanding the meaning and significance of the holiday. 

In December, for our Holiday Workshops, parent volunteers helped organize an incredibly successful toy drive of brand-new board games. Students wrapped the gifts with festive decor and then added a personalized card, keeping in mind the children on the receiving end who were just beginning to transition out of homelessness at LA Family Housing.

Students at Los Encinos learn the importance of giving back to their community in meaningful ways. They reflect on their experiences and make connections to the Los Encinos virtues and values and social-emotional curriculum.

As both a parent and teacher, I’m proud that Los Encinos School gives character development equal standing with academic excellence. We can all make a difference!