Green Dot Public Schools (Green Dot) is a leader in transforming public education in Los Angeles and beyond so that all young adults receive the education they deserve to prepare for college, leadership and life. Green Dot operates charter high schools in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in Los Angeles. By creating a small school environment more conducive to learning (numbering no more than 560 students per school, compared with more than 3,500 in a typical public high school in Los Angeles), it maintains attendance rates close to 95 percent, and its students achieve stronger results than their counterparts with similar backgrounds in traditional public schools.

Evaluation Status: High-Level Apparent Effectiveness

Green Dot’s model and its strong commitment to quality produce very positive results: 76 percent of students who enter in the 9th grade graduate high school, and almost 80 percent of these graduates go on to four-year colleges and universities, compared with the Los Angeles Unified School District’s graduation rate of just 42 percent of its 9th graders and a college attendance rate of only 22 percent.

EMCF Investment

Since 2004, the Foundation has invested $6.1 million in Green Dot to implement its business plan. During this period, Green Dot doubled its school enrollment from 1,500 to 4,100. The Foundation’s first investment in Green Dot was part of a pilot program (which also included the See Forever Foundation/Maya Angelou Public Charter School) to test EMCF grantmaking approach with alternative schools. Based on the success of the pilot, both organizations became part of the Foundation’s full grantee portfolio in 2007.

For more information, visit Green Dot’s website at www.greendot.org.