City of Paramount and Paramount School District Approve Work With NSBN On Planning For Joint Use At Los Cerritos Elementary School

December 05, 2003

PARAMOUNT - On December 2nd, both the Paramount Unified School District and the City of Paramount approved and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with New Schools Better Neighborhoods (NSBN) triggering the latter's underwriting of a collaborative planning process intended to jointly design not only additional classrooms at Los Cerritos Elementary School, but also a much needed and co-located early education and public health facility.

The strong collaborative partnership between the City and the School District led to the creation of the Paramount Educational Partnership (PEP). The NSBN project is an opportunity to expand on this successful partnership to allow the city and school district to leverage the investment in new school construction with the ability to address other community needs, such as the need for greater opportunities for early childhood education in Paramount.

NSBN is in the position to harness this synergy to bring together school and city resources to launch a collaborative revitalization effort for the "Sans" community. In addition, both the community and the students at the elementary school will benefit from a safer playground and open space, an early childhood education center, as well as linkages to other community amenities, including the neighboring community pool and park. The area is in great need of intervention. Adjacent to the school and the children's playground is a space that was intended to be a parent waiting area, but has become a haven for gangs. This area, given to the School District by the City of Paramount, has great potential for increasing the urban green space and safety in the area or for providing affordable housing. Other project components could include bringing a family health clinic to the area, and an early education center.

Other entities that will be involved in the Paramount project include Gateway Cities Partnership Inc. and Trust for Public Land.