Program Description and Purpose
Overview: As a founding small school in Oakland, UPA is dedicated to providing an educational learning environment that truly prepares students for success in high school and beyond. In its seventh year as a new small school, UPA’s teaching staff and parents agree that College for All is essential in realizing the school’s long-term vision of preparing students to become successful in the nation’s colleges and universities, and productive community members who return here to their home.
Last spring, 72 Urban Promise Academy 8th-graders set off on the inaugural “College for All” visit to three campuses in southern California. During the three-day, two-night trip, students visited UC Merced, UCLA, and California State University, Northridge. The inaugural trip was so successful, that the students and staff on the planning committee decided to extend the trip and provide it to all students in all grades, every year.
This upcoming spring, the College for All program will provide college tours for all 300 UPA students. This year’s college tour locations and itineraries are being developed for each grade level, and will be finalized by the planning committee in the upcoming month. Initial planning indicates local day-trips to college campuses for the 6th- and 7th-grade students, and a four-day trip to Southern California campuses for 8th-grade students.
Before their visits, students will receive a curriculum to follow, which will be developed into a final project presentation at the end of the school year. Students will be asked to attain a deep understanding of what college means to them. They will be assigned to work as a photographer, a journalist, an investigative reporter, or an artist. Their photos, writings, interviews, reflections, artifacts, and artwork will be used to create a presentation that will answer the essential question “What does college mean to me?” Students will make presentations to their families and the school community at the “College for All” exhibition at the end of May.
Teachers will continue to develop grade-level structures to integrate meaningful education grounded in curriculum standards into this program. This project will also be the catalyst for further development for teachers and students focusing on college preparedness. With the school’s emphasis on project-based learning, there are already structures in place from which to build this project.
Community Need: According to the California Department of Education, Oakland has one of the highest dropout rates in the State of California. Today, less than one in twenty high school students in the Oakland Unified School District graduates with the eligibility requirements needed to attend a University of California campus.
Since the highest school dropout rate occurs in the first year of high school, it is critical that UPA students leave the 8th grade motivated and committed to their college dreams. College for All offers students not only the opportunity to attend college campuses and gain a glimpse into college life, but more importantly, the program enables students to envision their long-term potential, both academically and personally.
Program Beneficiaries: All 300 students at UPA will benefit from the College for All program and the college-going culture it will promote at school. At least 90 percent of UPA students are considered low-income—eligible for free or reduced lunch. More than 60 percent of UPA’s students are English learners; nine percent are African American; 83 percent are Latino; and seven percent are Asian American. Yet, most telling in this picture is that more than 70 percent of students at UPA can be the first in their family to graduate from high school, and a far greater majority—almost all—can be the first college graduates in their families and likely, their entire communities.
During last year’s trip, students learned what it would take academically for them to go to college. They also met college students on campus who played a game of soccer with them, a seemingly insignificant part of their trip to an observer, but to these 8th graders from Oakland, it was a day that will last long in their memories. The students returned to school saying they were motivated to improve their grades so they would be ready to graduate from high school and apply for colleges.
This program is essential not only to UPA’s students, but to their families and their communities, where the abstract idea of college can become a reality.
Project Goals, Outcomes and Timeline: The College for All program goal is to create and instill in students an awareness of their future potential, by exposing them to an expanded vision of educational opportunity. As a result of the College for All program, students will be motivated to learn and excel academically, and commit to their dreams of enrolling in college.
Moving into its second year, the College for All program is being refined and expanded, with the goal to now provide all 300 UPA students with the opportunity to participate in the grade-level college tours. With support from the Rogers Family Foundation, we will meet this goal.
Teachers, parents and students on the planning team have begun to work on planning the spring trips and associated projects, taking into consideration last year’s feedback from families, teachers, and students. The grade-level trips will begin in the spring, and the presentation projects will provide the conclusion to the program in May. At that point, the planning team will gather feedback using surveys, and they will produce the final report for this program year.
Program Challenges: The College for All program requires teacher, student, and parent coordination. Not all students and their families are always initially willing to make the commitment involved in the travel and time away from home. Limited English-proficiency of the students and families can also be a barrier to participation, requiring more staff time to provide outreach. With the success of last year’s trip, the planning team hopes to garner more support and participation this year.
“During a class trip to California State University at Northridge, an admissions counselor asked our students how many of them would be the first in their family to go to college. Almost all of them raised their hands. This made me realize just how important this trip was for our students. College is no longer a completely foreign, unfamiliar place, but an experience and place they can actually picture and reach for.”
-Principal Gia Troung
