Broad Foundation

The Long Beach Unified School District was again named a finalist Wednesday for the prestigious Broad Prize, which honors academic excellence and strong performance by minority and poor students in urban districts across the nation. "It's a huge honor," said Christopher J. Steinhauser, superintendent of the nearly 91,000-student district.

IN its largest and most important single acquisition to date, the Broad Art Foundation has purchased 570 works by the late German artist Joseph Beuys, an influential thinker and socially conscious force in avant-garde 20th century art. The acquisition comprises a nearly complete collection of the artist's "multiples" -- groups of mostly three-dimensional works produced in more than one edition to make them widely available. These works are regarded as the essence of his production.

The Museum of Contemporary Art, revealed to be in dire financial straits late last year, said Thursday that the downtown L.A. museum had raised nearly $60 million since December, hailing the figure as an indication of a turnaround at the institution. The fundraising total includes December's $30-million pledge from the Broad Foundation, $16.4 million in trustee gifts, $3 million from individual patrons, $6.7 million from the museum's annual fund and $3.8 in trustee dues. MOCA also has announced the election of four trustees, two newly appointed and two returning.

The Broad Foundation will give Green Dot Public Schools a $2.8-million grant to help build additional charter high schools in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Green Dot is a nonprofit network of charter high schools that operates Oscar De La Hoya Animo in Boyle Heights and Animo Leadership and Animo Inglewood in Inglewood. Steve Barr, Green Dot's chief executive, said the organization plans to open two schools this fall and eight to 12 more in the next few years.

Words meant little to Curtis Hampton when he entered fifth grade last year. He could pronounce them, but he struggled to comprehend their meaning. Tests confirmed suspicions that his language skills lagged two years behind his peers. In many school districts, Curtis would have landed -- and perhaps failed -- in a class with students of varying skills.