Meet our Principal

As the Principal and Chief Executive of Birmingham Community Charter High School, I am proud to be part of a staff that believes in the unlimited potential of our youth. As an Independent Charter School, all stakeholders know that we have both the opportunity and responsibility to leverage our autonomy to tailor programs and support to the unique needs of our students. To this end, we will not default to doing things the way they've always been done. We will be relentless in our effort to create and refine systems that support historically neglected students, those motivated to achieve at the highest levels, and the large majority in the middle looking to be inspired and challenged. I'm so privileged to work with a faculty and support staff passionate about our collective effort to bring out the best in BCCHS students by encouraging their well-rounded development inside and outside the classroom.

The multitude of academic pathways and extra-curricular experiences are a unique strength of Birmingham. Unlike many high schools today, we continue to invest in the arts with the mission to inspire students to engage in meaningful learning activities in a safe, creative, and nurturing environment. 10 different visual and performing art pathways are available to our students as we challenge them to be critical thinkers who are productive members and leaders within our community.  We also have a robust career pathway program that provides students with a multitude of options to explore from animation and patient care to culinary arts and graphic design.  Additional learning opportunities are available in the city’s largest student body leadership program including over 55 clubs sponsored by Birmingham faculty members. This is not to be outdone by our championship athletic program that is one of the largest in CIF L.A. City Section.  Academic, artistic, athletic, social-emotional, leadership, and service are all pillars of the Birmingham student experience.

Being well-rounded is our hallmark, but first and foremost, we’re an academic institution that provides a vast array of rigorous college and career preparation opportunities. Our graduation rate has increased to a projected 98% for the class of 2025, with a university eligibility (A-G) rate of 94.2%. We also continue to expand rigorous program offerings for our students with 20 advanced placement courses, concurrent college enrollment (Birmingham is the only school in the valley that allows students to complete all of their college general education courses through the IGETC pathway solely on our campus), and National Education Equity Lab classes from Stanford, Yale, Brown, Penn, and Howard. Aligned to this increased focus on accelerated academic courses, Birmingham's California College/Career Readiness Indicator is rated at the highest level (blue on the California Dashboard) by the state, while no individual group rates lower than green (high performance). We’re also proud of the nearly 20% of graduates that earned the California Seal of Biliteracy and the 53.9% of graduates that earned the Golden State Seal Merit Diploma, official recognition by the California Board of Education and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction that these students have demonstrated mastery in English, math, science, U.S. History, and two additional subjects chosen by the student.

We understand that high school is more than just grades and awards. We are determined at Birmingham to ensure that every student feels supported and cared for.  Our faculty has received professional development in both the implementation of social-emotional learning activities and trauma-informed practices. We understand that our students need to feel safe and supported before they can begin to focus on their learning and academic growth. Our Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) and grade level academy MTSS teams have partnered to form a deep collaboration with four Birmingham psychiatric social workers that allows us to be uniquely proactive in addressing student mental health needs.

Parent engagement is another critical component of who we are. Parent Square is our online platform that allows us to engage in two-way communication with parents at both the schoolwide and classroom level.  Through this application, we’ve seen parent engagement and feedback increase exponentially and remain high as we're able to identify over 1000 unique parent/guardians that communicate annually sending messages to our faculty and staff.  After extensive surveying and meeting with parents in focus groups, the Parent Partnership Initiative was established. The goals are to address the following needs of our parents and guardians.

• Educational partners need greater and more detailed information in a comprehensible format regarding standardized scores for students.
• Education partners need greater and more detailed information in a comprehensible format regarding school funding and school budgets.
• Educational partners would like to have more follow-up after meetings or at the next meeting in response to questions and issues raised.
• Educational partners are overwhelmed by the volume of meetings and confused as to the purpose of some meetings and would prefer that the purpose of meetings be more clearly stated and that meetings be more streamlined, succinct and user friendly.

Some of our recent accomplishments include:

• 2022 California Pivotal Practice Award
• 2022 National Education Equity Lab School of Excellence
• 2023 College Board AP School Honor Roll
• 2024 College Board AP School Honor Roll Silver
• 2024 California Distinguished School

As a comprehensive high school, BCCHS offers numerous programs for our students:

• School of Advanced Studies (SAS) Program (approximately 800 students) offers both dual-credit college courses and 20 Advanced Placement courses.             
• Students enrolled in college courses earn credit for Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) including over a dozen course offerings such as English, Psychology, and Political Science in partnership with Valley College.
• Partnership with National Ed Equity Lab to offer students with access to elite university courses from Stanford to Yale.
• Freshman Bridge Program supported by Link Crew (a nationally recognized transition program) is provided for all incoming 9th graders with support from over 125 11th and 12th grade Link Leaders.
• Free College bound Summer Institute for 50 rising seniors (including overnight stay at UCLA)
• Free Summer Institute and Career Academic Preparation for 50 rising juniors (overnight stay at UCLA)
• Comprehensive Arts and CTE Programs for a balanced instructional program that emphasizes creativity and career preparation in addition to college readiness.
• 250:1 student to academic counselor ratio (state average is 527:1) not including 4 psychiatric social workers, 2 college counselors, 1 career counselor, 1 attendance counselor, and 1 designated instructional support counselor
• One of the largest athletic programs in the city of Los Angeles, boasting outstanding facilities including a swimming pool with an updated, dedicated locker room, a 10,000-seat football stadium and newly renovated field, a state of the art synthetic polyurethane Mondo track, a lighted baseball field, two dedicated softball fields, a pristine soccer/lacrosse field, and an enormous practice/physical education grass field.

We could not offer all these programs without the commitment and dedication of Birmingham faculty and support staff or without the unwavering support of our student-focused Board of Directors. We collectively share the goal to continuously grow as educators to build on the strengths of our community and improve the quality of our programs annually to bring out the best in every BCCHS student. We are passionate about serving Birmingham students and families as an independent comprehensive charter high school located on a beautiful, clean, and safe campus!

Please consider scheduling a visit to our campus by arranging an appointment.

Sincerely,

Ari Bennett, Birmingham Class of 1989
CEO/Principal