One medical palo alto11/7/2023 ![]() ![]() Today, Nohely finds joy watching students participate in rituals that meant a lot to her when she was younger. “But we meet students where they are, providing many layers of support to help every student reach their potential and go on to be successful in college.”ĭespite navigating the individual needs and challenges of around 65 students per grade, today more than 99% of Eastside’s students go on to college – and that number was 100% for the Class of 2023. “Our students come in with a wide range of academic backgrounds,” Chris says. There’s also an option to be a residential boarder at the school, so students can fully immerse themselves in the learning experience. There’s ample time for one-on-one tutorials between students and teachers, and programs continue throughout the summer. The school days are long, running from 8:30 a.m. This evolving process has included creating a rigorous environment to help get students on the same educational levels when they enter the school and to build their confidence to succeed. “Everything we've done since day one of starting the school has been aimed at achieving that goal.” “I believed we could create greater opportunities for students in our community,” says Chris. When Eastside opened in 1996, 65% of students in East Palo Alto didn’t finish high school, and less than 10% of high school graduates made it to college. Today, she teaches freshman World History as well as a class to help students gain research skills in preparation for college.įor Chris Bischof, who cofounded Eastside, Nohely’s path epitomizes his hopes for the students – with a focus on getting first-generation students from low-income families ready for college. When she graduated in 2020, she wanted to give back and continue to be a part of the community that meant so much to her – so she decided to return to Eastside as a teacher. Nohely got into Eastside, where she excelled, and four years later was accepted to Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. “My parents didn’t get a high school diploma or college degree, but they would always tell me ‘I don’t know how you're going to do it, but you're going to go to college.’” I fell in love, as I was drawn in by how college-oriented it was,” she says. “I convinced my mom to take me to an open house for the school. Nohely learned about Eastside through a friend’s mom, and when she discovered there was an opportunity to continue her education in her own neighborhood, surrounded by students with similar life experiences, she jumped at the chance. While students have to apply to get in, Eastside prioritizes accepting low-income students and those who will be of the first generation in their families to attend college, and tuition is free. Without knowing, she’d been passing Eastside College Preparatory School, a small private high school and Gilead Foundation grantee in East Palo Alto, every day on the bus. It was my first time feeling very different.”Įastside Supports First-Generation Studentsīut as Nohely approached high school, everything changed. “I also had the provided brown paper bag lunch unlike others who had homemade lunches. “I would tag along with my mom at her job cleaning houses, and they were all in the neighborhoods where I went to school,” recalls Nohely. ![]() ![]() For Nohely, it felt like a different world – the houses were bigger, and the surrounding area was far less racially diverse than the neighborhood she lived in. The local commute program sought to address the lack of diversity in schools in high-income neighborhoods and create educational opportunities for those in lower-income areas. As an elementary school student, Nohely Peraza took a bus from her home in East Palo Alto to a school several miles away in another city. ![]()
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