Photo by Marc Albert

ASTI Student Kawika Baculpo examines new supplies for science class the school received Tuesday.

Though many students are eyeing the calendar depressingly as the last days of summer vacation slip away, a small cadre of students at one Alameda high school is already at their desks, raring to go.

Classes are already underway in the small cluster of trailers neatly hidden behind the College of Alameda, the home of the Alameda Science and Technology Institute, a magnet high school with an intense, accelerated program. The goal, according to administrators at this small 120-student school, is not only preparing students for college, but seeing them graduate from high school with a year's worth of college credits under their belts.

The school, just starting its fourth year, has found its stride after a rocky start as a one-room schoolhouse in the junior college's former upholstery workshop.

While some educators may balk at a campus made up of the dreaded "portables," for Sean McPhetridge, the school's fast talking, energetic principal, things couldn't be happier. "We have A.C., carpeting, windows! Compared to where we were before, it's terrific!"

McPhetridge and his enthusiastic band of educators pride themselves on being small and nimble enough to slice through bureaucracy and more forward.

"The project is very interesting," said Yvonne Valdez, an English teacher concluding her second day on the job. Valdez said that at her old district, "I wasn't being exposed to any new ideas or new concepts. We were just concerned about fulfilling whatever requirements came down from the district ... I didn't want to be that kind of teacher," she said.

Teachers said they enjoy some autonomy when designing courses, and the students seem to be responding well. The school, which was threatened with closure twice in its first two years, has seemingly put that issue to rest. According to the California Academic Performance Index, A.S.T.I ranked as the third highest performing school in Alameda County last year, behind Mission San Jose High of Fremont and Piedmont High School.

"To my mind, every teacher comes here with a social justice agenda. These are true believers. These are people who believe they can help kids get into college. That's why they are here," McPhetridge said.

Photo by Marc Albert

'It's like the biggest Christmas ever,' said science teacher Steven Fon as he unpacked fetal pigs and sea urchins soaking in preservatives.

The seriousness and small, nearly family atmosphere is partly what led Kawika Baculpo, 16, to choose A.S.T.I. after finishing Chipman Middle School. "I wanted to challenge myself. I was the type that fooled around. I've learned a lot of new things like time management. Now, when there's work to be done, I get it done," Baculpo said adding that in addition to poetry, math and Spanish, he'll be taking some college-level classes this semester.

The school is open to anyone wishing to apply and welcomes students who may be the first in their families to attend college, under-represented students, those with a lower socio-economic status and students with academic potential who may have had problems in middle school. Roughly 40 percent of A.S.T.I. students currently reside outside of Alameda.

"It's really exciting to be a part of something with an achievable common vision," said Steven Fong, the school's science teacher who left a position at Berkeley High School to join A.S.T.I. "At my old school, so many people had a lot of different visions of how to do things and if things don't work out, it takes a lot of time to turn things around. It sometimes makes rapid progress difficult. Here, if we want to make a schedule change because it works better for us, we take a vote and the next day it is done," Fong said while unpacking new supplies.

Started with a five-year $400,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, A.S.T.I. is operated by the Alameda Unified School District with coordination from the college.

Students are enrolled in a string of hour-long academic classes at the high school for their first two years. They must take at least three college level courses each semester for their final two years in addition to regular instruction.

McPhetridge says students know they are in a special place and have to work hard. "We have higher standards in achievement, behavior and dress." Students must wear shirts with collars and are forbidden from wearing jeans. "They sacrifice things but at the end of four years they can have two years of college done and they can save a lot of time and money ... they know there's not going to be a lot of fooling around."

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