Aim High

Since 1986, Aim High has provided under-resourced middle school students with a life-changing academic and enrichment summer program. Alec Lee and Eleanor McBride, then high school teachers, created Aim High with a small grant from the San Francisco Foundation. Their goal: to prevent the summer slide that is responsible for two-thirds of the achievement gap, and to inspire low-income middle school students to reach for a dream. Aim High also provides young people of color with a pipeline into the field of education. We provide Aim High alumni and other low-income students with meaningful job opportunities, and encourage them to pursue careers in education. Two-thirds of the high school and college students we hire are Aim High graduates. These young men and women are paired with and mentored by veteran educators to team-teach all of our classes. Aim High has a measurable record of accomplishment. We have grown from one campus to 15, and prepared more than 9,000 low-income middle school students for high school, college and career success. Aim High is now the largest free summer academic program in the Bay Area, serving high-need neighborhoods in San Francisco, Oakland, East Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Rafael and the Tahoe-Truckee basin. Once admitted to Aim High, students are welcomed back for the next three summers until they enter the ninth grade. And they are excited to return. Three-fourths of our students attend for multiple summers. This high retention results in positive outcomes: 91% of students report feeling more confident about doing their schoolwork in the upcoming year and 85% of students show improvement in their reading, writing, math and science. Our alumni graduate from high school and enroll in college at rates much higher than their low-income peers. Of our graduates who completed high school in 2013, 97% went on to enroll in college* compared to a national rate of 50% among low-income students. *Based on a 77% response rate.