PACOIMA (CNS) – An intersection in Pacoima was dedicated as Anita Zepeda Square Monday, Sept. 21, in honor of the bilingual educator, former executive director of Vaughn Next Century Learning Center and advocate for underserved youth who has spent 35 years working to transform educational opportunities in the Northeast San Fernando Valley.
Zepeda was joined at the morning ceremony, at the intersection of Herrick Avenue and Paxton Street, by Los Angeles City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who wrote the motion to dedicate the intersection in honor of Zepeda, her third-grade teacher.
“Anita Zepeda has devoted her life to ensuring every student feels dignity, belonging and opportunity,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “For over three decades, her leadership shaped the culture of Vaughn Next Century Learning Center and empowered generations of families in Pacoima.
“Naming this square in her honor stands as a permanent tribute to her legacy, her belief in the potential of every child and the profound impact she continues to have on our entire community, including on my own life as my third-grade teacher.”
Zepeda was also a reading specialist and special education adviser.
Vaughn Next Century Learning Center is the nation’s first conversion charter school, an existing district school that later became a charter, according to the charter school network. Its charter was authorized by the LA Unified School District (LAUSD) in 1993.
The intersection is between Vaughn International Studies Academy and Global Green Generation, two of the five schools that constitute the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center charter school network.
Vaughn International Studies Academy, known as VISA, serves students from ninth through 12th grades. Global Green Generation, known as G3 Academy, serves students in second and third grades.
The other schools in the network are Pandaland Primary Center for pre-kindergarten through first-grade students, Mainland Upper Elementary for fourth-and fifth-grade students and Middle School for International Studies and Technology, known as M.I.T, for sixth- through eighth-graders.