Culver City has one of Southern California’s most vibrant education communities. From highly ranked public schools to premier specialized private schools, Culver City offers educational opportunities for students of all ages and a school community that enhances both property values and business success.
Long an advocate for arts and music education, Culver City Unified School District has developed a wide array of partnerships that expose students to an unparalleled level of education in the fields that have called Culver City “home” for more than a century.
Through its Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, CCUSD is helping to provide a steady pipeline of well-educated graduates to entertainment and tech companies such as Sony Pictures Entertainment, Apple, Amazon and more – students that have real, hands-on experience in the industries into which they want to be employed. In addition, the district offers not only an incredible education for those interested in pursuing higher education goals but has also developed a series of career pathways that give students real, hands-on experience in careers ranging from sports medicine to architecture to coding.
Culver City’s private institutions such as Turning Point School, The Willows Community School and Echo Horizon School, also provide a unique focus on arts education that goes on to create well-rounded and more successful students. At Park Century School, students with language-based learning issues such as dyslexia, ADHD and other learning differences, is engaged by a team of teachers who customize a program to their individual needs and strengths.
While Culver City offers an amazing public school district that routinely earns state and national awards for academic excellence and a variety of private schools that rank among the best in California, the area is also blessed with numerous options for continuing education.
West Los Angeles College, an accredited California Community College, offers paths to university transfer, career education and courses for personal or professional growth. West’s Dental Hygiene program is a national model and is one of only two California community college programs authorized to offer a bachelor’s degree. The campus boasts state of the art childcare and learning services to help students succeed in their studies. Each year, the school awards more than 600 degrees and certificates in 39 different fields, sending more than 300 transfer students to four-year colleges.
Antioch University, a private non-profit university, which was recently named one of the top 20 colleges most committed to community service by USA Today; and University of Phoenix, a private university that offers classroom and on-line learning in more than 100 degree programs at the associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree levels; offer other opportunities for continuing education.
Culver City truly exemplifies the adage that “It Takes A Village,” rallying around its students and providing an unparalleled level of educational support.
Nearby Loyola Marymount University is a four-year Jesuit university that routinely ranks among the best universities in the West. In fact, LMU ranks third in “Best Universities with Master’s Programs in the West” according to U.S. News & World Report (2019); in the top 4 percent for diversity according to College Factual (2018) and No. 8 for “Students Most Engaged in Community Service,” according to Princeton Review’s “The Best 381 Colleges.” (2018)
LMU also has a nationally ranked school of film and television and has been recognized as a top producer of Fulbright student scholars by the Chronicle of Higher Education (2018).
LMU offers 61 major and 55 minor undergraduate degrees and programs for its 6,500+ students and boasts and impressive faculty that includes nearly 20 Fulbright Scholars, a Nobel Prize winner and a Pulitzer Prize winner.
Truly, the Culver City area provides the kind of educational community few other cities can offer.
Perhaps even more important than the schools themselves is the way the education community has worked hand-in-glove with the business community to improve Culver City.
Every day, business people volunteer in CCUSD schools, sponsor athletic teams and provide funding, talent and manpower for a wide array of after-school and enrichment programs that benefit students of all ages. Through the Culver City Education Foundation, local businesses have contributed millions of dollars to CCUSD, funding everything from classroom grants and beautification projects to field trips and investments in educational materials and equipment.
In addition, the Chamber of Commerce has been a leading supporter of public education in Culver City, not only through the contributions of its members but also through its role at the forefront of advocacy in favor of every school tax and bond measure during the last 20 years.
For several years, CCUSD, the Chamber and a host of local businesses and organizations have participated in The Culver City Compact – a commitment by community stakeholders to achieve a common goal: graduating all students from high school with the skills, passion, and sense of purpose to succeed in higher learning and providing access for those students to and experience in pathways to relevant, sustainable jobs and careers.