On the train ride in New York City over the Thanksgiving holiday in 2003, ARISE co-founder Laura Flaxman had a conversation with a former student of hers who was then a college student on the East coast. This young man, David, had also been a graduate of the Mills College Upward Bound program. Laura and David were catching up on some of David’s former classmates and the stories of their varying levels of success in college and dissecting why David was succeeding while some of his friends weren’t. David credited his experiences at Life Academy and Upward Bound, as well as the role model that he found in ARISE co-founder and principal, Romeo Garcia, with his achievement. He also talked about how participating in various experiences away from home while he was still in high school impacted his future. Out of this conversation, ARISE was born, including the idea of requiring a “cultural immersion” experience. Laura immediately thought that it would be great to start a school with Romeo, in partnership with the Mills TRIO programs, and a few months later, Romeo came on board. Their next step was to ask OCO leader Emma Paulino if she was interested in getting involved in starting a high school, bringing the parent perspective on board, as well as her experience co-founding and working with ASCEND. From this point on, the team continued to grow and as they say, the rest is history!

 
 
 

Keeping the ARISE Promise

ARISE High School has been honored to serve the Oakland community since 2007 and looks forward to continuing this service during our next charter term. The school was developed through a unique partnership with the Mills College School of Education, the Mills College TRIO Programs, Upward Bound, Oakland Community Organizations, and the Coalition of Essential Schools that sought to shift the discourse in urban education by challenging the traditional schooling model. Our founders, just as our staff today, believe that all children deserve a quality education that doesn’t replicate inequitable and oppressive institutions. Instead, we’ve developed a rigorous, high engagement, and authentic learning experience for our students. 

Ultimately, the ARISE High School program is designed to support students to be agents of change - in control of their own lives and able to effect change in our community. Through active research over the past eleven years, we have developed a Public and Community Health Pathway that serves as a pipeline for our students to college and career opportunities when they graduate. In deep partnership with community organizations, students have multiple, transformative opportunities to explore a broad range of college and career opportunities. Through these experiences, students develop agency over their own college and career options as well as the ability to see themselves as agents of change within our community at large.

 

400+

current students

 

86%

speak english as a second language

 

92%

Graduation Rate

86%

on free & reduced lunch

 

90%

1st generation college-bound

 

95%

A-G requirement completion

 
 

Each year, At least

85%

of our graduates attend 2 & 4-year colleges and universities