Cochran School grads making the most of private-school scholarships

Heven Ambaye remembers that moment of elation when the apprehension of being a ninth-grader at Brentwood School wore away, when she realized she had new friends to lean on, when the classes and teachers didn't intimidate her as much. It came at a volleyball game as she was cheering wildly for the home team and sharing the joy of school spirit.

"The kids are very athletic, and going to the games was so much fun -- and our team won," she said.

Heven is one of three students who landed at three top private campuses on full scholarships last fall after graduating from the Los Angeles Unified School District's Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Middle School. Children of low-income, immigrant families, they have high aspirations and plenty of determination. By all accounts, the transition has been remarkably smooth.

They've made friends, joined clubs, earned good grades. Perhaps most important, they've found that the gulf they thought might divide them from their classmates, didn't.

Francisco Sanchez, 16, had seen enough television shows about the lives of entitled rich kids to be a bit anxious about his first year at Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences. He was relieved when several ninth-graders introduced themselves before the freshman retreat, and they all became friends.

"About halfway through the year I realized I'm at this private school, surrounded by rich kids, and I realized I didn't notice it," he said. "They don't really care about that. Everyone's encouraged to interact."

The students are not exactly sheltered, but they benefit from the ability of private schools to support the needs of individual students. Private campuses are usually smaller than public schools and have a structure including counselors, deans and human development offices, to guard against students getting lost.

At Westlake, two academic deans kept a close eye on the 293 ninth-graders.

They didn't need to worry about Joel Argueta, 15, who said one of the highlights of his first year there was the thrill of dissecting a fetal pig in a biology lab. He ended his school year with a GPA of 3.8.

"He has a quiet determination to take advantage of everything we have to offer," ninth-grade Dean Karen Wareham said. "He's been hugely successful and was near the top of his class all four quarters."

Joel said he was surprised that he didn't have to spend every waking hour studying.