College Readiness

When the vast majority of students at LPS go on to four-year colleges, it is inevitable that students headed to community college often feel a sense of regret. Aguilar emphasizes that schools have to be careful and intentional about how they frame the community college matriculation process.

Many students at LPS will go on to be the first in their families to graduate college. At the beginning of senior year, Aguilar and her team meet with every single senior student and their families.

What sets LPS Hayward apart? The culture at LPS Hayward centers on the idea that every student -- regardless of race or income -- is college material. Dr. Claudia Aguilar leads the college counseling program. Her team creates a college-going culture by...

As a charter school, LPS has had the flexibility to work with Aguilar to make changes and allocate resources in a way that builds a world-class college counseling program. And that investment is paying off in their results.

Aguilar often hears a common complaint from freshmen: “You talk about college too much! Can’t we talk about something else?” But by senior year, she notices the feedback changes.

When you walk into LPS Hayward, a charter high school in Hayward, its unwavering focus on college readiness is immediately apparent. Flags and pennants from colleges and universities decorate every classroom door.

Each and every member of the Life Academy team is a strong leader. Dr. Frank says that is not an accident: “I spent my last three years doing a lot of deliberate leadership curriculum and I see that in our administration and instructional leadership team.

Social justice is at the heart of Life Academy’s mission. Their aim to set low-income students on track to enter the health and bioscience field is a direct challenge to the status quo.

What is different about Life Academy? Principal Aryn Bowman credits much of the school’s success to its small size, social justice emphasis, rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum, and a deeply committed teaching staff.

At Life Academy students feel like family: “It’s a pretty small school so you know everyone. There’s a different type of connection here.

Life Academy of Health and Bioscience is a small district middle and high school in the Oakland Unified School District that serves 464 Latino students, of whom 78% are low-income.

Students have big goals for themselves, 94% want to attend college and 70% have career goals that require a college degree. In our 21st century economy, the reality is that preparing students for good careers generally means preparing them for college.