Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine to open new magnet high school in Los Angeles
Both music legends say this is their way of giving back
Music moguls Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine are coming together to make highschool cool.
The two legends were not fans of secondary school so they are coming together to make the experience better for generations to come. The duo recently spoke to the L.A. Times about the public high school set to open in Los Angeles in the fall of 2022.
“This is for kids who want to go out and start their own company or go work at a place… like Marvel, or Apple or companies like that,” said Iovine.
Andre Young, also known as Dr. Dre, added their goal is to reach “the inner-city kid, the younger me.” He goes on to say: “Here’s a place that you can go where there’s something that you can learn that you’re really interested in.”
The L.A. Board of Education approved the vision for the school last week. According to the Times, 80% of students in the nation’s second-largest school system are Black and Latino and come from low-income families.
The new school will be a magnet school which allows students from different districts to apply. Transportation will be provided to students who live outside of the area.
According to L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner, Dr. Dre and Iovine’s vision could produce “the coolest high school in America.”
“We can better connect what a student learns in a high school today with a job opportunity in the future,” he added.
Iovine wanted to make it clear: “This is nowhere near a music school.”
Both music legends say this is their way of giving back.
“We want to do it in the public system,” said Iovine. “We wanted to go to where it’s most needed — and it’s most difficult. And we will not be satisfied if this doesn’t scale. We want people inspired enough to scale it.”
The school plans on providing entrepreneurial programs, high-tech equipment and projects that involve private industry.
Dr. Dre also spoke on why kids don’t like school.
“No kid wants to go to school,” he said. “Because it’s boring. You keep flipping the same thing over and over and over again, year after year, with the same curriculum, the same teachers.”
“This is something new and different that might excite the kids and make them want to go to school,” he added.
The duo may have the formula to success on their hands. The University of Southern California already holds the Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy which was founded in 2013. Its goal is to “establish a new school to nurture critical thinking and unbridled creativity at the intersection of four essential areas: arts and design; engineering and computer science; business and venture management; and communication,” per its website.
Dr. Dre adds that he could not image his life would lead to this.
“I had no idea this is where my life and career was gonna go, and everything that I’ve been doing throughout my career … was gonna lead to this, all those things a stepping stone to get here. Is this what it’s supposed to be? The, you know, the Big Bang? Hopefully it is.”
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