Downtown College Preparatory ~ A Charter High School in San Jose, California

Downtown College Preparatory (DCP) is the first charter high school in Silicon Valley, and the only school that explicitly prepares underachieving students for college success. DCP targets low-achieving urban minority students who will be the first in their family to go to college.

DCP is a small (400 students), academic school characterized by high standards, a rigorous curriculum, a strict code of conduct, and a commitment to college success for all students. As a charter school, DCP has the independence to break away from the large, comprehensive urban school model to implement a rigorous college-prep program unlike any currently available to the students of downtown San Jose.

DCP reflects the spirit of innovation and competition that drives Silicon Valley. DCP is positioned to be a model for excellence in public education, affecting not only San Jose students but high schools throughout Silicon Valley and California.

DCP will graduate its first class of students in 2004.

Goals and Objectives
Problem Statement
Founding of DCP

Goals and Objectives

DCP has a singular goal for every student: graduates of DCP are able to matriculate at four-year colleges and succeed while there. Committed to outcomes, DCP benchmarks and measures specific objectives to ensure achievement of its goal. DCP performance outcomes are designed to promote academic resilience and independence among students and families.

The performance metrics for students and parents include:

Completion of University of California entrance requirements
Completion of at least two Advanced Placement exams
Parent participation in College Readiness classes and school governance
Matriculation at four-year colleges and universities

Problem Statement

The performance scores at San Jose's large urban high schools are persistently low, especially so for minority students. For example, in San Jose Unified School District, 48% of Latino students fail to finish high school, while 90% of those remaining fail to go on to four-year colleges. Despite the millions of dollars spent on special programs, the urban minority students of San Jose are trapped in a pattern of low expectations and failure. One particularly glaring sign of the failure of minority students in San Jose schools is the fact that a paltry 2% of Latinos go on to University of California schools, with only 8% attending the less competitive California State University system (Education for All Children Report for San Jose Unified School District, Santa Clara County Office of Education, 1999).

Research and information on the educational problems facing today's children are readily available to the public. Statistical data on the performance trends--test scores and graduation rates--reveal that Latino students have the lowest overall educational attainment in California. DCP was founded with the mission of leveling the achievement gap by providing ALL students with the skills and knowledge necessary to thrive at four-year colleges.

Founding of DCP

The school founders, Jennifer Andaluz and Greg Lippman, worked as teachers and professional development coordinators implementing reform projects at large, urban high schools in San Jose. The inability of schools to align the infrastructure around a single vision compromised the quality of learning, having the greatest consequence on underachieving students caught in a cycle of failure.

Convinced that the flexibility and accountability of a small, community-based charter school would ensure the academic success of all students, Andaluz and Lippman conducted a pilot program in the summer of 1999 to assess the impact of the small, college-prep model on downtown San Jose youth. The DCP Summer Bridge program was extremely successful. The prep school atmosphere of high expectations, a strict code of conduct and personalized attention did not dissuade students and families; on the contrary, students and families made an extremely strong commitment to the program resulting in a community campaign to make DCP the first charter school in Silicon Valley.

DCP's charter was approved unanimously by the Board of Education of the San Jose Unified School District in December 1999. With over 350 people represented at the public hearing-family, friends and community members-broad based community support for DCP was never more apparent.

The Across the Bridge Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, was created to establish and govern DCP. It is responsible for ensuring that the school is accountable to its vision and success benchmarks. The Foundation is run by a board of directors, who establish policy for the operations of DCP. San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales joined the Across the Bridge Foundation Board of Directors in January 2000 fostering a collaboration between the City of San Jose and DCP. Through community partnerships with San Jose State University, Tech Museum of Innovation, Santa Clara University, Catholic Charities, Sacred Heart Church, and Sacred Heart Community Service, the Across the Bridge Foundation has been a catalyst for community development focused on education and its positive impact on the largely Latino Guadalupe/Washington neighborhood.