The Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies is a public university preparatory secondary school located on 18th Street between La Cienega Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in the Faircrest Heights district of Los Angeles, California,[3] on the former site of Louis Pasteur Middle School.

LACES, which serves grades 6 through 12, is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

[5] In 1998, Los Angeles magazine described LACES as "the patriarch of all LAUSD magnets" with "a waiting list stretching into infinity.

In 2014, LACES ranked first on the Challenge Index among all schools (public and private) in Los Angeles,[9] 5th in California, and 41st nationally.

The school was also enhanced with a new football field, tennis courts, and other physical education facilities.

[citation needed] In 2010, the NBC reality show School Pride chose LACES to be the subject of an episode.

The show's producers and sponsors provided landscaping and repainting (drawing criticism from some who thought that the bright blue and yellow exterior resembled an IKEA store) as well as makeovers for music and art rooms, the auditorium, and the culinary arts kitchen.

[3][16][17] In June 2011, students vandalized the school, putting manure in the buildings, "soaping" the ponds, and spray-painting on a gym wall.

[18] In 2013, LACES received a Gaston Caperton Inspiration Award from the College Board, in recognition of the school's efforts to expand low-income students' access to higher education opportunities.

On March 14, 2018, students came to the front lawn of the school during nutrition to participate in the Nationwide wide walkout against gun violence after the Stoneman Douglas Highschool shooting.

[24] During the 2013–2014 school year, LACES Boys and Girls volleyball both won the Los Angeles City Section Division 3 championship, while Boys and Girls Basketball won the Los Angeles City Section Division 4 championship.

Coach Alexis Lopez took the 2013 and 2015 Varsity team to two LA City CIF Section Championships.

The boys' tennis team made the semi-finals in 2019 and a 2-time state-ranked player, Zac Brodney who won the CIF all-city championship in 2015 & 2016, coached by Darryl Sher who is also the Computer Science teacher at LACES Magnet.

[27][28] Other physical sports include cross country, golf, water polo, soccer, swimming, and track and field.

LACES has enrolled students such as Leonardo DiCaprio (who attended LACES for several years before transferring to John Marshall High School),[30] Christopher Cabaldon,[31] Quinn Cummings, Marques Houston, Shane West,[32] David Arquette,[33] Patricia Arquette,[34] David Ayer,[35] Chanda Prescod-Weinstein,[36] Portia Doubleday,[37] and (briefly) Mila Kunis.