Program Services & Activities

Our school-based services are designed to support students and families by increasing the number of students who are prepared to access and succeed in college and to improve educational systems by addressing the infrastructure of the educational pipeline and teacher professional development. Our work focuses on college awareness for students and their families, so they understand the value of college, college preparation, and college financing options.

Academic Advising
College Facilitators provide ongoing one-on-one, grade-level appropriate advising on college planning at least twice per year. Students in grades 8-12 develop Individual Academic Plans (IAP), mapping out the high school courses that they need to complete to become eligible for a UC/CSU or other four-year university. Students also receive advising on financial aid and scholarships, visit college campuses, and participate in standardized test preparation to increase their overall academic preparation and competitiveness. Students on the community college pathway are connected with counselors from the EPC’s Transfer Partnerships Program, who provide guidance and counseling to support these students.

Academic Tutoring
We prepare students to succeed in mathematics, a gatekeeper for college eligibility, through intensive in-class, lunchtime, after-school, and summer tutoring by highly qualified undergraduates with strong mathematics content knowledge. The undergraduate Academic Interns embody student success, challenging students to improve academically and motivating them to plan for college.

Planning for College and Financial Aid Applications
Students receive ongoing college preparation and financial aid support as they navigate the college pathway. The freshmen through senior strategies support school counselors to help guide students step-by-step through the “search and choice stages” of the college application process. For example, activities for sophomore students center on standardized test preparation, and activities for juniors prepare students to “close the deal” by taking pre-college tests, completing college application forms, and writing the required personal statements.

Early College Experiences
Students and families take field trips to visit local college campuses and other educational resources in the region. In addition, the Summer Youth Leadership Conference gives students the chance to spend the weekend on the UC Santa Cruz campus, developing their leadership skills and increasing their motivation to pursue college.

Online Academic Support Services
In partnership with the University of California College Prep Online (UCCP), students can access Web-based college preparation resources, such as free SAT/ACT test preparation and an online academic planner. This planner will help them plan and track their academic work, record standardized test scores, track extracurricular activities, and explore careers and investigate academic strengths using various aptitude tests.

Summer Algebra Academy
The Summer Algebra Academy is a five-week program centered around a college awareness theme, which focuses on increasing academic performance in mathematics and creating a college-going culture. Students receive 90 hours of engaging, hands-on mathematics instruction to increase readiness for ninth grade algebra as well as 40 hours of college awareness services, including tutoring, mentoring, intensive counseling, and academic and college planning. The Algebra Academy is not a remedial summer school program; instead, the focus is on getting students ready for success in high school and proactively addressing any potential barriers to going to college. A unique part of this program is the family involvement component. Parents are introduced to higher education opportunities and empowered with knowledge to help their children succeed.

Parent Counseling and Support
To address the role of families in building college awareness and preparing for college, our Family Involvement Coordinators connect with parents and empower them to play an active role in their child’s education. We build college-going motivation and provide parents with timely information regarding college visits, course planning, and financial planning strategies.

“College is in My Future” Curriculum
College is in My Future is a college awareness curriculum for students in grades 6-8 that teaches high school course requirements, financial aid availability, and the benefits of college education. The curriculum is taught as part of the school’s regular academic program and helps create a college-going culture within the school.

Parent Leaders in Action
To reach families through community relationships, our Family Involvement Coordinators recruit and train a core team of bilingual parent leaders who will assist in sharing information with other parents. The Parent Peer Network supports parents as they negotiate unfamiliar and potentially discouraging processes such as completing the federal student financial aid applications and translating and understanding financial aid award letters.

College Family Conference
The Educational Partnership Center hosts an annual all-day College Family Conference on the UC Santa Cruz campus, which for most participating families will be their first visit to a university campus. Parents experience college life first-hand and gain valuable information about financial aid and scholarships to make the cost of education more manageable and develop an understanding on how to guide their children through the college admission process.

Teacher Professional Development
Working with our district partners and the California Reading and Literature Project, we emphasize specific skills for teachers to prepare students for college reading and writing. Teacher professional development is centered on the systematic teaching of English language development and providing access to the core curriculum in a variety of content areas. We target English, science, and social studies teachers to develop academic language for reading, writing, and speaking across the curriculum.

Professional Development in Mathematics
Professional development services in mathematics emphasize the mathematics standards and concepts that students typically struggle with in college preparatory curricula, including accommodations to support English learners. Teacher professional development activities specifically address in depth content knowledge and strategies for the most central key concepts, based on assessment data and student work.

Professional Development in Creating Career and College-Going Awareness
To promote a college-bound community, the GEAR UP partnerships work to create the expectation among school staff that all students can go to college. Teachers, counselors, and other school staff are trained on college awareness curricula, focused on college eligibility requirements and motivational techniques to help students connect the concepts of college and careers.

Community Action Council
We convene a Community Action Council to bring together all of our partners and members of the greater educational community to plan and implement academic preparation services. We mobilize resources and facilitate the development of holistic strategies to increase the rates of high school graduation and college enrollment. The Community Action Council is charged with identifying the full range of challenges to our students’ college-going success and creating a sustainable model for intervention efforts beyond the six-year term of the grants.