Dr. Dre and Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine have teamed up with the Los Angeles Unified School District to launch a new high school in South Los Angeles aimed at developing young leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs.
Iovine and Dr. Dre joined LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner and other school district leaders Monday at the Audubon Middle School in South L.A. to announce details on the new venture.
“We want to give the next generation of students access to a proven, revolutionary learning experience that will not only prepare them for the jobs of today, but equip them to reimagine and shape the jobs, technologies and creative enterprises of the future,” Iovine said.
Dr. Dre declined to speak during Monday’s news conference. Later, when asked a question, he told reporters, “I’m still trying to learn, myself, and understand the politics and the hurdles that we have to get over to help. All we’re here to do is help the kids.”
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The new school expects to serve 124 students with a curriculum focusing on design, business, and technology. It eventually will expand to have a student body consisting of 250 students.
“This new partnership with Jimmy, Dr. Dre and the USC Iovine and Young Academy will help open the doors of opportunity for students, in particular Black and Latino children, from communities which have been historically underserved,” Beutner said.
Dr. Dre, whose real name is Andre Young, co-founded Beats Electronics in 2006 with music icon Iovine before the company was acquired by Apple in 2014.
In 2013, they partnered again to co-found the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation at the University of Southern California with a $70 million dollar endowment.
The new high school, which will be modeled after the USC Iovine and Young Academy, will be co-located on the Audubon Middle School campus near the historically Black Leimart Park neighborhood. The high school portion is expected to open in 2022, and will be given a new name.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the “magnet” school was approved last week by the Los Angeles Board of Education. Students from across the district will be able to apply to gain acceptance and transportation will also be provided for students coming in from outside the local area.
Watch a news report on the school below:
