(The Center Square) — The Los Angeles Unified School District, the College Football Playoff Foundation and School Specialty unveiled a new media center and library on Friday at Bancroft Middle School to improve learning environments.
The new learning space at the Hollywood middle school, designed by School Specialty, integrates new furniture, advanced technology and educational resources to create an engaging environment for students.
“Thank you for what is for us the best day of work,” said Michael Crumlin, vice president of school specialty. “We like to think of ourselves not just as a vendor but as a partner, and we can’t do this without a partner-like relationship with CFP and this school district.”
CFP Foundation has partnered with School Specialty for the past 10 years, with over 100 renovations across the country, Executive Director of CFP Britton Banowsky said.
Bancroft Middle School is the 83rd school nationally to benefit from these organizations and the seventh school in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The LAUSD board approved $506 million in bond-funded projects in June 2024 — $64 million of which went toward upgraded classrooms for multiple schools. Bancroft is one of them.
“Today we say thank you to these powerful investments that dignify you as young people every single day,” said LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho at the event.
Carvalho added that with Friday being the second day of school, there has not been a single troubling incident, and LAUSD will continue to protect kids and families, and empower everybody.
“We are not going to stop here. Our work ahead continues, and we are so proud that we have partners like these entities that give so much to all of you,” Carvalho said.
Following renovations at Bancroft Middle School, other Los Angeles area schools, including Compton High School, are returning to their newly rebuilt campuses in fall 2025. Compton High students attended classes at Roosevelt Middle School for the past several years during the reconstruction.
After Palisades Charter High School was destroyed in the Palisades Fire in January, the school is hoping to return to campus beginning in January 2026.
Since last semester, and as students begin the new semester this week, the old Sears building in Santa Monica has served as the temporary location for the school while the Palisades campus undergoes restoration.
“We’ll be here at [the old Sears store] through the first semester, which takes us all the way until December,” Principal Dr. Pam Magee explained. “In January of 2026, everything seems to be full steam ahead for us to be back on the Palisades campus. We’ll have temporary housing for buildings destroyed by the fire – while construction is taking place we will keep them occupied – and then we’ll have these beautiful new buildings in a couple of years.”
