Eastside College Preparatory School

East Side College Preparatory is independent and private, supported almost entirely by donations; as of June 2009 it had approximately $80 million in property and cash endowments.[1] Students are on full scholarships,[2] but parents are requested to pay a small annual fee, in 2013 $250 plus $100 for boarding, and to volunteer 20 hours of work.[3] The principal is Chris Bischof.[3]

The school has a 9:00–5:00 schedule[4] and a year-round calendar, and classes include AB/BC Calculus and a year of college-level English with Foothill College credit in the high school, one and a half hours of intensive reading and writing in small groups at the start of the day in the two middle school years, and "Friday Night Homework" for all students with unfinished assignments.[3] Seniors must complete a 25-page research thesis along with a 30-minute presentation.[3] Starting in sophomore year, a college prep class is required, and students tour colleges both in the East and in Southern California on free class trips.[4] Many internships are available to graduates.[5] A full-time alumni coordinator checks their progress in college;[4] in the mid-2010s the school developed an alumni mentoring program including a career coach in addition to a college coach assigned to each graduate.[5] The campus is open until 10:00 pm and on weekends.[1][4]

Enrollment was 300 in 2013,[3] 255 in 2019,[5] of whom a third live in the dormitories. Over 80% are residents of East Palo Alto and the adjacent parts of Menlo Park, which are majority minority and have a low average income; the remainder are from throughout the Bay Area, including Redwood City,[6] San Francisco[3][7] and Oakland.[8][9] Before the first dormitory was built in the mid-2000s,[10] teachers and the vice principal sometimes let students stay in their homes.[2] The school maintains a 100% graduation and college acceptance rate, with 76% as of June 2009 still enrolled in a four-year college or graduated, significantly higher than the national average, and half the remainder having transferred to a community college.[1]

The school was founded in 1996 by Bischof and Helen Kim, the vice principal, who met while students at Stanford University.[3] It began with eight students who were taught at a picnic table in an East Palo Alto park,[1][3][11] moving the next year to a house,[1] then to offices, and finally to 1.6 acres of donated land where it was first housed in temporary buildings.[3] The first class of eight all graduated in 2000, at which time enrollment was 70.[11] The campus has grown to almost 6 acres.[1]

Mathematics teacher Marianne Chowning-Dray received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2015.[12]

Eastside College Preparatory has athletics programs in basketball,[7][11] soccer, volleyball, cross country, and track and field.[13] The school newspaper is The Eastside Panther.[14] The National Association for Urban Debate Leagues launched its Silicon Valley league in 2014 at Eastside and at Overfelt High School in East San Jose.[15]

• Official website