Violeta Ruiz's Portfolio Homepage
Student Bio/Information
Educational Background
Violeta Ruiz is a first generation graduate student born to Mexican parents. She was born in a small suburb of Los Angeles and attended Los Angeles Unified School District Public Schools throughout her education. She graduated from Eagle Rock High School (’03) and attended
Occidental College (’07) where she earned her bachelor’s degree. After graduating from Occidental College with a BA in Biology and a minor in Spanish, she obtained a Master’s in Education (M.Ed) and secondary science credential from UCLA’s Teacher Education Program (TEP ’09).
Professional Experience
During her professional career, Violeta has worked at two different LAUSD Pilot schools located in the same community of Los Angeles. During the 2008-2009 academic year, Violeta worked as a biology teacher for The School for the Visual Arts and Humanities (SVAH). The following academic year, Violeta transferred to The Academic Leadership Community Pilot High School (ALC). This is the fourth year that Violeta has worked at ALC as a biology and AVID elective teacher.
As a teacher, Violeta has worked with UCLA’s IMPACT Urban Residency Program by mentoring two
apprentice teachers. As a mentor, Violeta provided apprentice teachers with observational feedback, curriculum development support, classroom management strategies, and continuous support to novice teachers as they embarked on their first year teaching. As part of the IMPACT program, Violeta also attended Cognitive Coaching Training and provided feedback with other mentor teachers on improvements of the program. She is currently not mentoring an apprentice teacher but hopes to be able to do so in the future.
Personal Experiences
Violeta decided to become a teacher because she genuinely enjoyed spending time with high school students. During her senior year of high school and throughout her college career, Violeta worked as a lifeguard at several Los Angeles City Pools in various communities As a lifeguard, Violeta had the opportunity to teach swimming lessons but most importantly, coached swimming and water polo to children ages 7-17. Also, working in various communities of Los Angeles, Violeta witnessed firsthand the inequities that existed in the schools surrounding the community
and it was her love of coaching and biology that prompted Violeta to become a biology teacher.
Future Goals
With regards to Violeta’s career, she is still unsure as to what sort of educational leadership position would be ideal for her. There are several parts of administration that intrigue her. One of those areas is being a content coach to work with teachers who are struggling with curriculum and instructional development. Violeta is also intrigued with the aspect of being a dean at a school since one of her favorite parts of being a teacher is being able to develop positive relationships with all of her students and encouraging them to try in their classes, 
especially in the classes she teaches. As a dean, she would be able to exercise restorative justice with those students who struggle with behavior and/or discipline and through support and guidance, convince them that they are capable of accomplishing great things. Eventually, Violeta would like to become an administrator that focuses on instruction and curriculum evaluation.
On an academic note, it is Violeta’s goal to attend graduate school in Southern California and obtain an Education Leadership Doctorate (EDLD) to further her studies on being an effective educational leader.
School Information
Academic Leadership Community (ALC) is a Los Angeles Unified School District Pilot High School located just west of Downtown Los Angles in the Belmont Zone of Choice Area. ALC is part of the first wave of pilot schools that LAUSD approved. It was formerly part of Local District 4 but is now part of the Superintendent’s Intensive Support and Innovation Service Center (also known as Plus 1) of LAUSD.
Enrollment
Currently, there are a total of 440 students enrolled at ALC.
Demographics:
ALC was previously a small learning community at Belmont High School. The small learning community moved to the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex in 2006 and opened as a Pilot School during the 2008-2009 academic year.
History of ALC
Unique Features
ALC is part of the LAUSD Pilot School System that was inspired in part by the Boston Small School community. By being a pilot school, ALC is granted three autonomies- calendar, staffing, and budget. As a Pilot School, ALC staff can decide on a school calendar and schedule that best fits the needs of both the students and the teachers, In terms of staffing, all teachers and staff members at ALC sign a specific Elect to Work Agreement that acts as a supplementary contract detailing the expectations that each individual needs to meet specific to their position, Also, ALC can hire people for specific positions such as community outreach positions, that other schools in the district are not able to do so. One of the most important autonomies ALC is given as part of the Pilot School Agreement is with regards to budget, As a pilot school, ALC can develop its budget and have it approved by the governing board of the school. Although this is an autonomy that benefits the school, LAUSD has slowly began taking parts of budgeting autonomy away due to ALC's second year as a Program Improvement School.
ALC is governed by two committees- the Leadership Team and the Governing Board. The Leadership Team is composed of the lead teacher (in this case, 2 co-lead teachers), principal, and three elected 
teacher representatives. Lead Teachers serve in their position for three years with the possibility for re-election, The teacher representatives serve for two years. All issues discussed as a school are agreed upon by the Leadership Team and approved by the Governing Board. The Governing Board is made up of the Leadership Team, parent, student, and community representatives. The Leadership Team meets weekly basis and the Governing Board on a monthly basis. All meetings are open to all community stakeholders.
Project Pages
Senior Portfolio Presentations Coordinator
Leadership Project: Addressing English Language Learners' Academic Gap
CPSEL
Standard 1, Standard 2, Standard 3, Standard 4, Standard 5 and Standard 6
