East Palo Alto Academy
East Palo Alto Academy is the charter school overseen by the School of Education under the auspices of Stanford New Schools. Based in the Ravenswood City School District of East Palo Alto, our school prepares its diverse student body for college and the 21st century workplace. Our school combines the most successful models of urban school reform with highly qualified teachers and a curriculum that connects the work of the school to the life of the community. We are applying our expertise in research and practice to provide a high-quality education to students in a disadvantaged community and giving them the tools to succeed. We are training teachers and educational leaders for settings where they are most needed. And we are developing and assessing innovative practices to share with educators around the country.
Founded in 2001, East Palo Alto Academy serves approximately 300 students in grades 5 and 9-12 from East Palo Alto and east Menlo Park. Our school accepts all students and is now 20 percent African American, 70 percent Latino and 10 percent Pacific Islander; more than half are English language learners. Students learn about themselves, their communities and the world through project-based curriculum and instruction, rigorous standards, performance assessment practices, and opportunities to study in college courses and community service settings as well as high school courses. In 2009, it had a graduation rate of 86 percent—well above the state average of 80 percent overall and approximately 65 percent statewide for African American and Latino students. Over the past seven years, the high school has made achievement gains of 180 points on the Academic Performance Index (API), the state's test-based measure of academic achievement.
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