RFK Community Schools – Los Angeles, CA

This project is a K-12 school complex constructed in two phases on the site of the former Ambassador Hotel in the Mid-Wilshire district of Los Angeles, the site where Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968.

Phase 1: Construction of 800 new kindergarten through third grade seats, a 320-space parking structure, a central plant facility, athletic facilities, one-third of the site-wide methane mitigation system and street improvements around the entire site. The scope of work included 46 classrooms, a multipurpose room/auditorium, administrative offices, library, kitchen and an above-grade parking structure.

Phase 2: The second phase provided 1,000 new middle school seats, 2,440 new high school seats, a public park, reconstruction of the Cocoanut Grove, athletic facilities, a swimming pool and two-thirds of the site-wide methane mitigation system.

A modern reconstruction of the Cocoanut Grove includes a 500-seat auditorium, and the staff/teacher lounge in the restored Paul R. Williams Coffee Shop. The complex features six commissioned art pieces, including fine art murals, a marble memorial depicting the complex’s namesake, Robert F. Kennedy, and preservation of pieces of the original hotel.

Although originally designed as a comprehensive K-12 school, LAUSD decided to divide the complex into multiple small schools with autonomy over their budget, curriculum and assessment, governance, schedule and staffing. The schools­—which each have a social justice mission—are:

• Ambassador School of Global Education (ASGE), Grades K-5

• Ambassador School of Global Leadership (ASGL), Grades 6-12

• Los Angeles High School of the Arts (LAHSA), Grades 9-12

• New Open World Academy (NOW), Grades K-12

• School for the Visual Arts & Humanities (SVAH), Grades 9-12

• UCLA Community School (UCLA-CS), Grades K-12