During his final year of work toward his master’s degree in education, Colgate University alumnus George So gained valuable experience as a high school teacher at Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto, California. Certified to teach English, biology, and chemistry, George So developed the curricula for an English and a math class, and developed original SAT preparation materials to enhance Eastside students’ performance on their college boards. Analysis of the first round of SATs after So’s preparation materials were rolled out indicated that students’ scores had increased by a minimum of 15%.

1. By George So Colgate

2. 
During his final year of work toward his master’s
degree in education, Colgate University alumnus
George So gained valuable experience as a high
school teacher at Eastside College Preparatory
School in East Palo Alto, California. Certified to
teach English, biology, and chemistry, George So
developed the curricula for an English and a math
class, and developed original SAT preparation
materials to enhance Eastside students’
performance on their college boards. Analysis of
the first round of SATs after So’s preparation
materials were rolled out indicated that students’
scores had increased by a minimum of 15%.

3. 
Located in a socioeconomically disadvantaged
area, Eastside College Prep offers a tuition-free
high school education to students who would be
the first in their families to attend college. Of its
graduates, 100% have earned admission to fouryear colleges, and 80% of all graduates since the
school’s founding in 1996 have either earned a
bachelor’s degree or are still in school, a
favorable comparison with the 11% of firstgeneration college students who complete their
degrees within six years.

4. 
Eastside College Prep was founded by Chris
Bischof and Helen Kim 20 years after East Palo
Alto’s last high school had been closed and its
students shuttled off to attend non-college track
classes in neighboring towns’ high schools. High
school students from East Palo Alto started
dropping out of their high schools at an alarming
rate — as high as 65%. Fewer than 10% of East
Palo Alto students who graduated from high
school went on to college. The school today
offers classes in grades 6 through 12 to both day
and boarding students. All costs are paid by the
school from donations by supporters.