East Palo Alto Academy - Stanford Collaboration

Stanford Collaboration

EPAA Founded in 2001Top of Page

Since then EPAA has enjoyed a very special relationship with Stanford University and Stanford Graduate School of Education specifically. In addition to ongoing professional development for EPAA teachers, and strong collaborative efforts for research and service for Stanford students on the EPAA campus, EPAA students have the unique privilege of being the only high school whose graduation takes place annually at the very special Stanford Memorial Hall Auditorium. Below are some examples of our most exciting collaborations.

EPAA and Stanford Spanish ClassTop of Page

EPAA Spanish students continue to collaborate with Stanford students of Spanish. Misla Barco’s Spanish I for Native Speakers high school class is collaborating with Citlalli Del Carpio’s Second-Year college course to learn language in community. Barco and Del Carpio developed a dual syllabus that integrates academic standards from East Palo Alto Academy and Stanford University. Aligning with EPAA’s vision that every student will positively contribute to our global society and the Cardinal Service initiative to integrate service learning as a lifestyle, their hard work has paid off to create a program that continues to open doors to new ways of learning.

Now in the 2nd year, students showcase unique learning strategies that involve innovative and creative curriculum, and critical thinking around areas like immigration and gender studies. Students express their learning through forms of art which they present at Gala de Español each trimester.

Community engaged learning is not an easy system, but it does expose students to social responsibility while increasing proficiency in the Spanish language.

"Personalmente, haber vivido la experiencia de compartir la clase de español con los estudiantes de Stanford fue muy interesante debido a que ellos han aprendido una lengua con la cual no estaban familiarizados. Fue increíble saber como se interesaron en aprenderla y ver lo bien que la hablan".

Noelia

(EPAA Class of 2019)

Performing Arts Collaboration with StanfordTop of Page

One example of the synergy between Stanford and EPAA lies in the Performing Arts curriculum. Researchers at Stanford’s Institute for Diversity in the Arts (IDA) have found the EPAA Performing Arts teacher’s work to be so innovative that they are conducting research on his innovative Warrior Writers after-school program. Teacher Andy Robinson has developed a curriculum where students study plays by prominent playwrights of color, and then write and perform their own plays, poems and hip-hop lyrics to tell their stories about challenges faced in their homes and community. This process, strengthened by classroom dialogue, empowers students to express the pluralism of their identities, and to use their voices to confront issues of social justice. Using ethnographic research methods, Stanford hopes to understand the program’s effects on individuals, the school and the community.

EPAA College & Career CenterTop of Page

HAAS Center for Public Service at Stanford University & EPAA College & Career Center

Each year, Stanford students and faculty volunteer their time and talents to support the students and teachers of East Palo Alto Academy. We are excited to build on this partnership with a new full-time AmeriCorps Vista position, co-sponsored by EPAA and the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University. The new Vista will join our staff in August

2016

, and split her time between the EPAA and Stanford campuses. This position will help recruit, train, and manage Stanford volunteers, and support

College and Career Specialist

Jose Heredia in developing our college prep programming.

Additionally

, students in

Stanford GSE

Professor Amado Padilla’s course on Well-being in Immigrant Youth will support our College

and Career

Center by meeting with current freshmen to explore college opportunities.