The Preuss School UCSD

Greeting from the Board of Directors!

The University of California San Diego opened the Preuss School in fall 1999 on the campus of Thurgood Marshall College. UCSD is indebted to the generosity of Peter and Peggy Preuss who led the major gifts with a $5,000,000 donation to build the present home of the School on the east campus of UCSD. The Preuss School is a college preparatory public charter school, grades 6-12, under the authority of the UCSD Chancellor. It was five years in planning and involved consultations with teachers, educational administrators, the California legislature, University of California Regents, and the greater San Diego community. In 1999, UCSD Preuss School enrolled 150 students, grades 6-8. Each subsequent year, a new 6th grade was enrolled and led the steady state enrollment of 763 students, grades 6-12, in fall 2003. The Preuss School has adopted the educational emphasis of the San Diego AVID program which prepares underachieving and underserved students for college.

The eligibility requirements are three fold. First, all applicants meet federal eligibility for Free or Reduced Lunch Subsidy. All Preuss School students must be the first in their family to aspire to graduate from a four-year college or university; and, finally, both the student and family must demonstrate the proper motivation to prosper in a highly rigorous academic environment. All students meeting these three criteria are selected for admission by randomized lottery. This unique school fosters a high expectations environment which includes the study of the A-G academic requirements of the University of California. A series of Information Sessions will be held throughout San Diego each fall, where students and families can learn about Preuss and also get help in preparing an application for the School. See our Admission link on this web page.

The goal of UCSD Preuss School is to recruit the finest teachers and provide them with continuing professional development experiences that will allow them to integrate with the academic mission of UCSD on behalf of the students and families they serve. The Preuss School also provides a site for UCSD undergraduates to train and receive academic credit serving as tutors and mentors. UCSD faculty have sited many non-invasive research projects at the Preuss School in math education, curriculum development, psychological counseling and sociology.

Thank you for your interest and support of this extraordinary, research-based charter school.

Board of Directors
2009-2010