By SHALWAH EVANS
Biodynamics and psychology are at the top of the list for Cedric Bowser, who, like many of his peers, plans to attend college after graduating from Mission High School in San Francisco.
“I thought about Tuskegee, but it’s too hot. Climate is a big issue for me. I can’t take a certain amount of heat,” he says. “But I have friends who have gone to Fresno State and they say it’s a good school.”
Despite Mission High’s reputation for violence and underachievement, college acceptance rates for its graduates have risen in the last three years. Although the rate dipped to 42 percent last year from 47 percent in 2007, it is still up from 38 percent in 2005.
Counselors attribute the rise at Mission High to the staff and faculty’s commitment to change the school’s atmosphere. They also anticipate a consistency in gains with the new principal Eric Guthertz, who taught at the school for eight years before becoming head of administration. The school added an advisory period for one hour a day, four days a week, where students can study and work on college applications.
Mission has made its students more attractive to four-year schools with its advanced placement classes. This year it is offering seven such classes and nearly all have reached the maximum enrollment of 36 students. Many students also take part in a program that sends them to San Francisco City College, where they take classes and earn early credits towards their degrees, and participate in internships throughout the city.
Bowser, for example, learned about biodynamics–a combination of biology and engineering–through a co-worker this summer at Foley & Lardner law firm, where he did an internship. He now wants to take classes at Fresno State, where he could learn how to do all the “cool” things his co-worker described to him, such as training lab rats to jump through hoops and navigate through mazes. The 16-year-old currently holds a 3.0 GPA.
The goal is to have over 65% of a graduating class apply to four-year institutions, according to guidance counselor Joe Albano. Students are encouraged by counselors to apply to as many state schools as allowed on an application. San Francisco School Volunteers brings in retired professionals to help athletes through the application process and to encourage students to get involved in sports when they go onto college. In the last five years, Mission has raised its percentage of graduates bound for four-year colleges from 22 percent to more than 56 percent.
Junior Gwen Collins, 16, who wants to go to Clark Atlanta when she graduates, is also taking advantage of courses at San Francisco City College. Although many in her family didn’t attend college, she was inspired by her sister who attends the historically black university in Georgia. She said Jennifer Colker, a teacher at Mission, pushed her to do well and consider college.
Saag Anjal, a high-achieving senior, said she wants to go to the University of California, Berkeley and later study medicine. Saag’s parents were born in India and look to her to be the first of her family to graduate high school and college. Although she has her heart set on Berkeley, her parents want her to stay closer to home and attend San Francisco State.
“I’m still going to apply to Berkeley. I still have time to try to convince them,” says Saag. She has a 3.37 GPA and remained on the honor roll every year.
Thanks for the insightful comments. I received most of the graduation and college-rate info from guidance counselors, but I also checked into Mission High School statistics for the past few years. The folks at Mission High were very helpful in helping me figure out these numbers.
Annon–that story behind the story sounds quite interesting. I know Mission Graduates has been extremely instrumental in helping schools with programs that serve to benefit the students. Perhaps a new story to cover =)
Thanks for reporting on this under-reported issue. I would like, though, to know more about how the college-rate is figured out. Many schools eliminate drop-outs from their data, thus increasing the graduation rate. Probably there are education professors around who know how the data are created and used (and abused). Thanks for reporting on the Mission.
Big ups to students at Mission High School. The administration, counselors, and teachers are some of the best to work with. At Mission the students truly come first. The story behind this story is about the CBOs who have been helping students at Mission over the years. Just ask the college counseling staff and the principle about organizations like Mission Graduates and the assets they have brought to Mission.