Thursday marked the definitive dawning of a new horizon in secondary education for students in Los Angeles. The Iovine and Young Center Integrated Design, Technology and Entrepreneurship Magnet opened its doors, ushering in a state-of-the-art approach to academics committed to reimagining the high school experience. 

Founded by entrepreneurs and icons Jimmy Iovine and Andre “Dr. Dre” Young, the Iovine and Young Center IDTE Magnet offers a uniquely interdisciplinary learning environment that reflects USC Iovine and Young Academy's educational model, adapting the cutting-edge curriculum to fit the needs of high school students. 

“USC Iovine and Young Academy and LAUSD are pioneering new curricular programs based on the Academy’s intersectoral learning framework," said Thanassis Rikakis, dean of USC Iovine and Young Academy. "Together, we are aiming to address the pressing societal need for people who know how to leverage difference to address complexity and drive purpose driven technology and business innovation.”

Located in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, Iovine and Young Center IDTE Magnet, dubbed IYC for short, was conceived with the same entrepreneurial and innovation-impelled spirit that Iovine and Young had in mind when developing the Academy. With a challenge-based learning approach at its core, this distinctive and integrative high school setting offers students the opportunity to engage in hands-on academic methods that provide in-depth experiences in the design, technology and entrepreneurship spaces. These students aren’t just expected to study – they’re taking action that works towards project-based results, and the academic framework encourages them to explore, think critically, and problem solve for the real world. 

Supplementing a common core curriculum, IYC extends electives that prepare learners for their creative futures. Freshman year is where students begin building their portfolios by taking courses in platforms like Adobe and Illustrator, laying the foundation for well-rounded design and implementable skills. By the time they arrive at senior year, the project-based curriculum is not only intended to provide them with computational, programming, and design aptitude, it is aimed to equip them with the understanding to keep up with evolving industries while coming into their own innovative identity. Students are set to turn their knowledge into practice – refining and pitching a “breakthrough idea through a capstone project.” 

The Iovine and Young Center IDTE Magnet is just the beginning of LAUSD and the Academy’s plan to shift educational paradigms on an impactful scale. As partners in academic innovation, they’ve devised a blueprint that encompasses both K-12 and higher education with the goal of developing more inclusive and equitable spaces for learning.

"This partnership is part of the Academy’s broader strategy to bring learning innovation to education (spanning K-12 and higher education) and create more inclusive, equitable, and accessible educational experiences and environments. This initiative has already inspired numerous collaborations with partners in the for-profit (i.e. Verizon) and non-profit (i.e. XQ) sectors to explore the future of learning through immersive workshops and training programs," said Dean Rikakis.

Iovine and Young Center IDTE Magnet’s mission states: “We are dedicated to creating an exceptional learning experience to engage, inspire, and empower every student to reach their fullest academic, creative, and unique potential.” 

As Young told the Los Angeles Times in 2021 , he hopes to affect “the younger me.” 

“Here’s a place that you can go where there’s something that you can learn that you’re really interested in,” he remarked. 

To learn more, check out their website HERE. 

Thursday marked the definitive dawning of a new horizon in secondary education for students in Los Angeles. The Iovine and Young Center Integrated Design, Technology and Entrepreneurship Magnet opens its doors, ushering in a state-of-the-art approach to academics committed to reimagining the high school experience.

Iovine and Young Center Officially Opens Its Doors