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Expansion at Eastside College Preparatory School

Expansion at Eastside College Preparatory School

Community Voices@ EPA.net Posted 1/6/05 Eastside's new classroom building is under construction. Construction at Eastside College Preparatory School School expanding to better serve students By the Eastside College Preparatory School staff With the closing of Ravenswood, East Palo Alto's only high school, in 1976, students from East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park were then bused to high schools in other communities as far away as Belmont. Placement in lower academic tracks, negative peer pressure and the difficulties inherent in being bused to unfamiliar schools combined to create a dramatic breakdown in these students’ education. By the mid 1990’s, up to 65% of East Palo Alto high school students were dropping out. In the Fall of 1996, Eastside College Preparatory School was founded to bring a high school back to East Palo Alto. Eastside began without any facilities and just a handful of students. Over the past eight years the school has acquired its own campus and grown bit by bit to better accommodate a student body now approaching 200. This article will briefly survey growth and new expansion at Eastside College Preparatory School. The year Eastside was founded it had eight students enrolled in a school without a location. For the first few days, the students learned in a park. After that, they borrowed space from different companies and nonprofits in the area, including Plugged In and Families in Transition. The second year, Eastside moved to its current location: 2101 Pulgas Avenue. The campus extends behind the grey house on the corner of Pulgas and Myrtle halfway down the block toward Clarke Ave. Student Jupiter Chavez graduated from Eastside in 2004 and is now attending Santa Clara University. The original Eastside campus consisted of the gray house on the corner and two, temporary modular buildings. A few years later, a permanent gymnasium --dubbed The Panther Dome -- and a multipurpose room were built. Since then, the student body has increased each year; there are currently 195 students enrolled at the school. To accommodate this growth, additional modular buildings have been added to the campus. Most of these temporary classrooms have been used beyond their expected “life spans”. Therefore, Eastside sought a more permanent solution to their growing student body and increased demand for enrollment. In October of 2002, Eastside obtained permission from the city council to increase enrollment and build a permanent campus for its students. This space will not only allow Eastside to admit more students, but it will also allow the school to offer enhanced learning opportunities to all students. As student Sade Johnson said in a speech at Eastside’s Groundbreaking Ceremony, “Fortunately for me and the other students, we have a school, a home, and a family all right here on this campus. That’s why we’re so excited that the new campus will provide more space for us – both inside and outside the classroom. And, we’re thankful that more of our friends will be able to benefit from our classes, our teachers, and our school.” Natasha White practices for Eastside's first production on the stage of the new theater. The first new addition to campus was a soccer field, which was generously donated by Ronnie Lott’s All Stars Helping Kids Foundation. Although the field is not regulation size, the new soccer teams are able to practice at home, and the students in the physical education classes can also take advantage of the playing field. In October of 2004, the Eastside Center for the Arts was opened. This building houses a theater that seats 200, an art room, a dark room, and a dance studio. This new addition has allowed the students an opportunity to participate in new drama and music classes.   Students and teachers alike are very excited about the new classroom building that is nearing completion. Finally, students will no longer be cramped together in small classroom spaces, and faculty members will have their own rooms. These classrooms are expected to open by February. Soon thereafter, two more critical buildings – neither of which currently exists on campus – will be constructed: a dining hall and a student services/administration building. The student dining hall will serve a dual purpose. It will be a place where students receive up to three nutritious meals in order to sustain them throughout the extended school day, and it will be a study hall where students can do their homework and seek additional help from faculty. The student services/administration building will include space for special education/resource services, a college guidance center, and for the first time in Eastside history: faculty workspace. Marissa McGee, now attending Stanford University, welcomes guests to the 2004 Eastside graduation ceremony. There is so much growth and change occurring at Eastside. Yet, one thing remains the same: students enroll in Eastside to prepare for success in college and beyond. And, that’s just what their students are doing: To date, 100% of Eastside’s graduates have enrolled in four year colleges. For more information, visit the Eastside website. You can also read a 3-part series by the Palo Alto Daily News. Eastside College Preparatory School 2101 Pulgas Avenue, East Palo Alto, CA 94303 Phone: (650) 688-0850  Fax: (650) 688-0859

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