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Two Breakthrough (Summerbridge) San Francisco Sites Begin Six-Week Summer Program June 20

Posted on: Tuesday, 5 June 2007, 12:00 CDT

Breakthrough Collaborative (also known as Summerbridge) will begin its annual intensive summer program on June 20 at its two San Francisco locations, SF University High School and SF Day School. The tuition-free program, geared to high-potential, middle school students with limited educational opportunities, is a rigorous six-week course in which students learn the academic and leadership skills needed to succeed in college preparatory high schools, in college and throughout life. Core academic subjects include math, science, English, social studies and a foreign language. Students also engage in electives and enrichment activities, such as team-building and community-service, music lessons, athletics and public-speaking. In addition to the in-class work, students complete two hours of homework every night. The summer program is rounded out with class field trips, ranging from visits to universities to local businesses for Career Day.

"Our students are dedicated to furthering their educational opportunities and the success of the program is built on the relationships between these students and the young teachers who inspire them," said Meredith Laban, Director of the SF University High School site. "It's a well-rounded and diverse summer session with extraordinary results for both students and teachers. A recent Johns Hopkins University study documented that disadvantaged children fall behind during summer break, which cumulatively results in unequal placements in college preparatory tracks. This is clearly not the case with our students, who use this summer program as a major step toward their goal of earning a college degree."

The program hires college and middle school students as teachers. Some are returning to continue their work with Breakthrough, such as the student teacher from USC, who will graduate in 2010 with a dual-major in Engineering and Teaching. Others are new to the program such as the student teacher from Harvard University who is expected to graduate in 2010 with a major in Molecular Medicine. The students teaching students model is the key to the program's success. In its early days at the founding site at SF University High School, an adult teacher was ill and a student teacher pitched in, gaining instant rapport with the class. Since then, the program recruits college and high school students to teach its middle school students, with extensive support and supervision from professional teachers. Ultimately these student teachers become much more than teachers; they are role models and mentors, and 72% of them pursue careers in education. This year, two Breakthrough teachers were named Rhodes Scholars.

Breakthrough (Summerbridge) San Francisco is one of 28 sites that comprise the national non-profit network of Breakthrough Collaborative, based in San Francisco. Annually, Breakthrough serves more than 2,500 middle school students and employs 700 college and high school students as middle school teachers. Demographically, 90% of Breakthrough's students are of color; 75% are the first in their families to attend college and 68% qualify for free or reduced-priced lunch programs. Since its founding in 1978 in San Francisco, more than 80% of Breakthrough's students have been accepted to college-preparatory high schools. This year, Breakthrough was bestowed with Johns Hopkins University's "Excellence in Summer Learning Award".

In addition to the summer program, other educational opportunities for high-potential, disadvantaged middle school students include after-school tutoring, weekend enrichment opportunities and individual counseling. "Students who are the first in their families to go to college end poverty in their family lines forever." U.S. Department of Labor.

For more information about Breakthrough Collaborative, go to: www.breakthroughcollaborative.org

Source: Business Wire

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