Northern California
College Summit first took root in California in 2002 – with the support of the James Irvine Foundation – when 46 students and a handful of teachers drawn from high schools in Oakland and the Central Valley took part in a workshop hosted by Stanford University. In the ensuing years, College Summit has worked with more than10,000 students and more than 39 high schools throughout Northern California – partnering with school districts including Oakland Unified,
San Francisco Unified, San Jose Unified, and charter management organizations including Aspire Public Schools and Leadership Public Schools – in order to ensure that more of our talent in low income communities prepare for, enroll and succeed in college
We are currently working with 1,500 students and 19 high schools in the Greater Bay Area, achieving college enrollment rates for our student Peer Leaders of more than 79% (compared to 52% for low-income high school graduates nationally), and beating 2-year and 4-year college persistence rates for students from all income levels. We remain dedicated to educational access and postsecondary opportunity for all California students.
What's New
Letter from Executive Director
Dear Partners & Supporters of Increased College Access & Success in Northern California,
As we at College Summit enter our 10th Year (!) of service to high schools in several Bay Area communities, we continue to be inspired by the dedication and brilliance of students, educators and administrators in so many different high school settings and school systems. Hints of their great body of work are found in these pages.
MetWest Sets a High Bar for Excellence
By Damien Basey, School Partnership Manager
In my professional experience working as a college access partner, some of the most critical questions schools face, particularly in public education include, “What do young people need in order to successfully transition into a relevant post-secondary plan after high school?” The leadership, faculty, and staff of MetWest High School in Oakland, CA seem to have a few answers for us that should leave little to no doubt in the minds of critics. And if it does, the numbers don’t lie.
> Read morePeer Leadership Runs in the Family
By Jasmine Abele, College Summit Northern California Intern
In late June, Tony Srimoukda of Media College Preparatory Academy attended the first of four College Summit Summer Workshops to be trained as a peer leader at the University of California, Berkeley. Tony was recruited into the organization by his older siblings, Johny and Emely Srimoukda who have both successfully completed the program as peer leaders, graduated from high school, and gone onto college. Johny is 19 years old, has just completed his first year at Chico State University, and Emely is 20 years old and entering her 3rd year at Chico State as well. She was the first to learn about the College Summit program.
> Read more
Don Cheadle College Summit Founding Spokesman
Learn more about College Summit by watching this informational video.