High School Program: Summer Math & Science Honors Academy
SMASH 2008
(June 22- July 26)
LPFI’s Summer Math and Science Honors (SMASH) Academy provides high achieving, low-income students of color with rigorous courses that will prepare them to excel in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) fields with the goal of being admitted to top-tier colleges and graduate schools. We help them achieve success in high school now and prepare them for future achievement in higher education.
The SMASH Academy components include a five-week residential, rigorous academic program on the UC Berkeley campus in the summer, as well as monthly programming during the school year to keep students engaged and on track for academic success. All of our biology, chemistry, physics, math and English classes are taught by experienced high school teachers who also benefit from teaching in this highly engaged environment.
In addition to having a college experience by living on campus, students also conduct hands-on lab experiments, meet accomplished professional role-models, build cultural capital through field trips, and build a supportive community of other scholars. These experiences are conspicuously unavailable to our students at their under-resourced schools.
A unique element of our program is the deep involvement with parents, as more than 85% of student parents attend monthly workshops on how to support their young scholars.
To support SMASH students who have graduated from high school, LPFI has hired a College Retention Director to develop programming to ensure that the investment in these students’ high school education continues now that they are in college. We are exploring on-line virtual support systems, like SecondLife, as well as direct phone follow up to encourage continued performance while in college. This program just started in spring 2008, so program components are still under development.
However, we are excited to share with you that students will be attending: Cal State East Bay, Cal State Long Beach, College of San Mateo, Columbia University, Diablo Valley College, Middlebury College, Morehouse University, Pomona College, San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, Santa Clara University, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, UC Merced, UC Santa Cruz, and University of Southern California.
