Background
The Preuss School is a middle and high school dedicated to providing an intensive college prep education for motivated low-income students who will become the first in their families to graduate from college. If these goals are realized, the school will matriculate students who are competitively eligible to enter the University of California or other selective institutions of higher education. The school, which is jointly chartered by the San Diego Unified School District and UCSD, opened in 1999 with 150 students in grades 6 — 8. It currently has 767 students in grades 6 — 12.
Demographics
The Preuss School students are culturally diverse with 59% Hispanic, 12% African American, 23% Asian/Indo-Chinese and 6% Caucasian/Other.
Selection Process
Preuss students are selected through a process of application and lottery. To be eligible for the lottery, a student must meet three criteria: student is from a low-income family (per school lunch criteria); student has no parent or guardian who has graduated from a 4-year college or university; student has the academic potential and motivation to benefit from an intensive college preparatory program.
Facility
Preuss School is housed in a $14 million dollar facility on the UCSD campus which is funded entirely by community donors.
Educational Practices
UCSD research into how to improve educational practices looks at three critical areas: the school year (198 days vs. 180 traditionally), school day (396 minutes per day vs. an average of 360), and smaller class size in all grades (25 vs. 34 district-wide). Preuss students log 74,669 instructional minutes compared to the State requirement of 64,800.
The Preuss School has a high percentage of Advanced Placement (AP) scholars, and many more have achieved AP status. Preuss administered 759 Advanced Placement (AP) tests to 354 students in eleven different subjects in May 2007.
Accomplishments
The Preuss School’s recent academic performance index score of 877 places it as a top high school in San Diego County.
96% of the graduating class of 2007 has been offered admission to the following universities and colleges: UC San Diego UC Berkeley, UC Los Angeles, UC Riverside, UC Irvine, Columbia, Colgate, Duke, Harvard, Vassar College, Woodbury, University of Southern California and many of the Cal State universities including San Diego State University and Long Beach.
