Our Story

In 1992, eight years before Camino Nuevo Charter Academy opened its doors, Dr. Philip Lance was gathering with families on the grass at MacArthur Park.

It was a difficult time. Families were arriving from El Salvador, fleeing civil war and political upheaval, while the MacArthur Park neighborhood faced significant economic challenges. As an Episcopal minister and community organizer, Dr. Lance was focused on one thing: creating opportunity and empowering the people who called the neighborhood home.

 

On weekends, he would hold simple religious services in the park. Families began bringing food to share, and “mass on the grass” became a place for neighbors to connect, build relationships, and imagine what they could create together.

 

“I didn’t know I was going to end up opening a school,” Dr. Lance recalls.

 

Those early efforts led to the creation of Pueblo Nuevo Development in 1993 and several community-based businesses and initiatives designed to create jobs and economic opportunity. But Dr. Lance and local residents soon recognized that lasting change would require investing in the next generation.

In 2000, the first Camino Nuevo Charter Academy opened just a few blocks from MacArthur Park. Dr. Lance partnered with educator Paul Cummins to create a school rooted in the community and committed to providing neighborhood children with a safe, supportive, and high-quality education.

 

Today, Pueblo Nuevo Education and Development Group supports six Camino Nuevo Charter Academy campuses across Los Angeles, providing students and families with college-preparatory academics, mental health services, arts and enrichment programs, and support beyond high school.

In many ways, Dr. Lance sees Camino Nuevo as an extension of what began at MacArthur Park.

 

“In some ways, mass on the grass is still continuing,” he says. “Only now it is in a secular public school setting, in our classrooms and our individual schools at Camino Nuevo.”

 

What began with a community gathering on the grass has grown into a network of schools built on the same belief that inspired Dr. Lance more than 30 years ago: when communities come together, they can create new possibilities for generations to come.