A fun and welcoming bash was held in Inglewood to announce that a new school is coming to the Inglewood Unified School District this year founded by rapper/producer/businessman Andre “Dr. Dre” Young and philanthropist Jimmy Iovine.
The school, named the Iovine-Young Center or IYC, will serve as a catalyst in teaching students what the duo feel students are missing in school.
The announcement was held at Morningside High School in Inglewood with a show stopping spectacle by Inglewood High School’s cheer/dance squad alongside a dance worthy performance by the school’s extravagant marching band.
In attendance were Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts, Inglewood Unified School District Board President Carliss McGhee and Iovine himself. Although Dr. Dre was not present due to personal circumstances, the energy in the room was full of hope, fulfillment and excitement at what the new school will bring to the district.
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Many feel that the center will be a welcome addition to the district that will change lives. “We want parents to want to put their children in Inglewood Unified School District because that’s the only future that we have for this school district,” the mayor said.
The center was the result of the two minds of Dr. Dre and Iovine, who reached out to Dr. McGhee aiming to give the children of the community a better chance at life.
“They came to my home and we sat down and we realized Inglewood would be a great fit for this program,” Dr. McGhee said.
Iovine explained how the concept came to fruition after he and longtime collaborator Dr. Dre needed to hire people who could speak technological language in regards to their infamous headphone line, Beats.
“Around 2006-07, we started a company – Beats Headphones – and we started hiring people and what we realized was that we couldn’t find people that could speak different disciplines in work,” Iovine said.
“For example, we had the people, engineers in technology. We needed designers, we needed creatives, we needed arts people, and they couldn’t speak to each other,” he noted.
“And we realized, ‘whoa this is a problem.’ So Dre and I was speaking and we said, ‘you know what? this? this is a problem in education.’”
Among the students who are satisfied with this project are Inglewood Unified School District student Patrick Cruz.
“Today marks a new day, a significant milestone for our district,” Cruz said “Together we will create a legacy of success , resiliency, and endless possibilities. It is a new era where the power of education can and will transform lives.”
The school will include classes teaching students job training skills such as coding, working with AI technology, and an impact lab to help students to create non-profit companies.
“This school is about, about giving kids in the inner city an advantage,” Iovine said. “A differentiation, a different type of education that they can go on with and be covered in by some of these big companies.”
According to Iovine, this will be the third school after opening schools in Atlanta and South L.A. “We hope to expand from here. We have very, very big ambitions,” he said.
County Administrator Dr. James Morris also feels this is an excellent move by the Inglewood Unified School District.
“We are so excited about this high school academy because it is the kind of education and environment that the students in our community deserve,” he said.
“This is another symbol that Inglewood is up to amazing things. We have the YMCA coming in to build a new YMCA center, we have an early college program that’s opening up at Inglewood High School, we have the Iovine-Young Academy that will be opening up a year from now, and we have so many good things happening for young people in this community.”
