a lot of cousins . Tania and I are the only ones who ’ ve gone to college .”
Before Eduardo started at Preuss , he was worried . “ I ’ d been with my friends since kindergarten , and now I was going to a new school with kids I didn ’ t know . But there ’ s really good teaching , and I liked it that kids in my class were serious about school the way I was , and they wanted to go to college . Some of them had been bullied , like I was . I like being in a school where there ’ s no bullying .”
Luis says Maria always urges other parents to apply to Preuss . “ Es lo mejor ; it ’ s the best . We have had less time with our kids , and a lot we ’ ve spent together was with the kids working on their homework ,” she says , looking at her sons as her eyes fill . “ Vale la pena . It ’ s worth it .”
A model for urban schools Educators and policymakers from around California and across the country who are looking to create opportunities come to study Preuss ’ model . Few of them have the resources to implement the full model , but most school districts emulate some parts of it , especially the Advisory program . Berkeley and UCLA both opened schools that feature many aspects of Preuss ’ program , as well as Harvard and University of Pennsylvania .
Preuss ’ achievement touches everyone who serves there . As a UC San Diego undergrad , Jason Babineau ’ 07 tutored at Preuss , and the experience changed his life plan . “ The adverse situations that these students had gone through , but who were still striving , who were still achieving , who still woke up every morning and got on the bus , inspired me . It broke my heart too , because it didn ’ t make sense that they didn ’ t have the opportunities I had as a kid .” He became a teacher and last year was appointed principal of San Diego ’ s Hoover High School , where 90 percent of the students live below the poverty line . He ’ s focused on providing the resources his students need
So , why put a school on campus ?
Bud Mehan , Preuss School co-founder
to get to college , and making sure every student feels connected to the school — practices he saw in action at Preuss .
Also within San Diego , Cecil Lytle points to Preuss ’ inspiration for the remaking of Gompers , a once-troubled middle school , into Gompers Prep , a college preparatory public school that draws on many of Preuss ’ practices . He sees Gompers ’ success as carrying Preuss ’ model to the next level : deploying it in an urban school that cannot be selective
about admissions and lacks the funding and the cadre of volunteers that Preuss
enjoys . Indeed , the push to transform the school came from Preuss parents who also had children at Gompers . “ The key was the parents ,” Lytle says . “ They would
not let Gompers fail . They knew what the ingredients were . They ’ d seen it here .”
Preuss co-founder Bud Mehan has also thought a lot about how Preuss ’ model could influence urban school systems . “ One challenge both Preuss and Gompers face with some of their incoming students ,” says Mehan , “ is that not all of them are prepared to jump right into a college prep curriculum . What if there were a K-5 school that prepared kids for that ?”
“ We placed The Preuss School on the UC San Diego campus for many mutually beneficial reasons . Enabling students who would be first in their families to attend college to actually be on a college campus would give them insight into campus life and college instruction . The proximity to the campus made it easier for undergraduate and graduate students to assist at the school — as tutors , mentors and coaches , as well as serve as role models . So , too , the close proximity made it easier for faculty to enhance the school ’ s in-class and after-school educational activities . It was a win-win for all .”
The education that Preuss offers its students is only part of its achievement . It also molds students — and often their parents — to become the thoughtful , informed citizens that Mehan envisioned , committed to giving back to their communities . Giving back starts with the recognition that their life-changing education is an experience that too many of their peers don ’ t have access to . Students , parents and alumni know firsthand how unattainable the starting line can be , and how great the need for good education is . So when they think about Preuss ’ future , they set the bar higher for their school and for its supporters . Expand . A second school . A K-5 school . Maybe 10 schools .
Or as Eduardo Martinez-Rendon says : “ My hope for all future students is that they complete their dreams .”
The Preuss School ’ s success is made possible only with private support . You can make a difference for these students , who go on to make a difference in their communities .
Learn more at preuss . ucsd . edu / giving
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