Street view of the former Our Lady of Soledad School building in East Los Angeles, featuring “Encore” signage and now serving as a charter school campus.

Our Lady of Soledad Catholic School in East L.A. closed its doors permanently in 2005. Today, the building is home to Encore Arts & Media College Prep, a high school that is part of the Ednovate charter school network.

Photo by Monica Rodriguez

East L.A.—Our Lady of Soledad Catholic School in East L.A. closed its doors permanently in 2005 as a result of declining enrollment. 

The closure followed 78 years of educating neighborhood children, the L.A.Times reported.  Years after the closure, the building continues to serve as an educational facility.

Encore Arts & Media College Prep, a public charter high school that is part of the Ednovate network, calls the building home. Encore welcomed its first class of students in August 2024.


Prior to Encore, Ednovate’s Esperanza College Prep occupied the building. It did so from 2019 to 2023, according to an Ednovate statement. Esperanza left the site to occupy a new site on Atlantic Boulevard.

Ednovate originally subleased the building from KIPP So Cal Public Schools, another charter school network, which previously leased and used the building for school purposes.

Ednovate currently has a five-year lease that began in 2025.

 

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