ANAHEIM : Program Opening Doors to College

For some students at Anaheim High School, getting to college has been little more than a dream. But a program called University Preparation is helping college become a reality for about 70 students.

The high school, part of the Anaheim Union High School District where achievement test scores are often among the lowest in the county, started the program 5 years ago to encourage Latino students who might not otherwise think about college as a goal.

“Many of our kids will be the first in their families to graduate from high school, let alone go to college,” said Jeannie Beckett, a teacher who works with the program. “So the idea of even going to college was way out there.”

At Anaheim High, 80% of the students are Latinos, and many come from low-income families “so the students have a lot of other stresses and a lot of other responsibilities,” said Beckett.

For half of every school day, the students attend courses in math, English, sciences and social studies in smaller classes with special teachers who are familiar with the aptitude and progress of each student.

About 70 students participate in the program every year. Last June, the first group that started as freshmen graduated. Sixty-three of the graduates went on to college, contrasted with less than a dozen in previous years.

Similar programs at eight other schools in California were started with state grant funding. But after three years, when state funding was cut, most of the other programs folded. The Anaheim program continues.

Carmela Harvey, coordinator of school relations at Cal State Fullerton--where the majority of the Anaheim graduates take classes--said the Anaheim program and others like it are keys to helping students get into and stay in college.

“You’re looking at educating a population that maybe was ignored. . . . At least they need to know that somewhere down the road college can be an option,” said Harvey. “Programs like that, coupled with other programs, certainly enhance the students’ preparation.”

The program is beginning to recruit from the junior high schools, and will begin again this fall.