The College Preparatory School
Encyclopedia
- The College Preparatory School (CPS), often referred to as College Prep, is a four-year privatePrivate schoolPrivate schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
coeducational day high school in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, CaliforniaOakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. The school's motto is mens conscia recti, a LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
phrase borrowed from Vergil's AeneidAeneidThe Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
that means "a mind aware of what is right."
The school's strict academics and small size have translated into an admissions rate lower than many American colleges and universities. In turn many students from College Prep go on to study at America's top universities, and approximately one-third of each graduating class matriculates into Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
schools, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, or Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
College Prep has received a number of accolades for the quality of its faculty and its academic rigor. A 2007 Wall Street Journal article ranked College Prep as the sixth best high school in the world in terms of its students' "success rate" in enrolling in America's most selective universities, a statistic calculated by collecting information from college admissions offices records of their freshmen classes. In April 2010, Forbes Magazine ranked College Prep as the seventeenth best private school in the United States in terms of caliber of instruction, quality of facilities, and overall academic achievement.
History
College Prep was founded in September 1960, sited in a small, 19th-century clapboard houseClapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
in the Claremont district
Claremont, Oakland/Berkeley, California
The Claremont district is a neighborhood straddling the city limits of Oakland and Berkeley in the East Bay section of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. It lies at an elevation of 266 feet . The main thoroughfares are Claremont and Ashby Avenues.The name was given in the...
of Oakland and Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. The school was founded by Ruth Willis and Mary Harley Jenks. Jenks, a UC Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
graduate and former head of the Bentley School
Bentley School
Bentley School is a private co-educational college preparatory day school. The Bentley school's lower and middle school campus is located in the Oakland Hills and the high school campus is located in Lafayette, California.-History:...
, wanted to create a school in the Bay Area that valued "high standards of scholarship and conduct." Unlike many university-preparatory schools, College Prep does not have a proper name
Proper name
"A proper name [is] a word that answers the purpose of showing what thing it is that we are talking about" writes John Stuart Mill in A System of Logic , "but not of telling anything about it"...
, as the founders thought the name's directness reflected a straight-forward, "unambiguous" approach to education. The five-room schoolhouse was built on recently constructed cement block structure and held just eight classrooms.
Because the school was non-profit, its limited enrollment and small size was not economical – furthermore, the small campus precluded expansion in the arts and athletics. The school's Board of Trustees determined that expanded enrollment and a larger campus was necessary, but did not want to sacrifice what they saw as an "intimate" and "intense" environment, that only a small campus could provide. In the early seventies, enrollment pressures began to increase as College Prep's reputation grew, and as a result of increasing discontent with California public schools (See: U.S. education crisis). In 1982 the Board began to plan a move to a larger campus, and it purchased sixteen portable wooden classroom buildings from the Oakland Unified School District
Oakland Unified School District
Oakland Unified School District is a public education school district which operates elementary schools , middle schools , and high schools in Oakland, California.-History:...
placed on a six-acre parcel of land on Broadway Avenue. Many of these buildings are still in use today.
College Prep celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2010. To commemorate the event, decorative street-post banners were affixed at the Rockridge BART station
Rockridge (BART station)
Rockridge is a Bay Area Rapid Transit station located in the Rockridge District of Oakland, California.The station has an island platform in the center median of State Route 24 at College Avenue west of the Caldecott Tunnel...
.
To celebrate, a special edition of the KALW
KALW
KALW is a public radio station based in San Francisco, California. Its HD FM radio signal is broadcast over the immediate San Francisco Bay Area at 91.7 MHz, and is webcast with live streaming audio.-Background:...
radio show West Coast Live was broadcast from the College Prep campus, with guests, journalist Anna Quindlen
Anna Quindlen
Anna Marie Quindlen is an American author, journalist, and opinion columnist whose New York Times column, Public and Private, won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1992. She began her journalism career in 1974 as a reporter for the New York Post...
and novelist Roddy Doyle
Roddy Doyle
Roddy Doyle is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. Several of his books have been made into successful films, beginning with The Commitments in 1991. He won the Booker Prize in 1993....
. An "All-Alumni Reunion" was held in April, and a community-wide celebration was held in September.
Campus
The construction of the Broadway campus accompanied a concerted effort to bring to prominence the school's location in the "shadow-of Berkeley" by capturing the cultural heritage of the city. This approach included the creation of a large central courtyard that serves as the center of daily activity to create intimacy and a sense of community between students and faculty. In December 1982, the new campus was finished and the school made its official move. As enrollment grew following the expansion, a six-classroom building and music, art, and gymnasium facilities have been added. A concentrated science department was built with robust laboratory facilities.The Broadway campus is situated in a eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
-lined ravine near the Oakland Hills. It sits almost exactly on the western edge of the area burned by the 1991 Oakland firestorm
1991 Oakland firestorm
The Oakland Firestorm of 1991 was a large urban fire that occurred on the hillsides of northern Oakland, California, and southeastern Berkeley on Sunday October 20, 1991, two years after the Loma Prieta earthquake...
, and narrowly escaped destruction in that disaster. After igniting the upper Rockridge neighborhood
Rockridge, Oakland, California
Rockridge is a residential neighborhood and commercial district in Oakland, California. Rockridge is generally defined as the area east of Telegraph Avenue, south of the Berkeley city limits, west of the Oakland hills and north of the intersection of Pleasant Valley Avenue/51st Street and...
, flames advanced partway down a hill at the southern end of the campus before it was fought back by firefighters and local volunteers; two members of the Oakland Fire Department
Oakland Fire Department
The city of Oakland, California is protected 24/7 by the 500 professional firefighters of the Oakland Fire Department. The Oakland Fire Department is the only fire and rescue agency in the city of Oakland and operates out of 25 Fire Stations, located throughout the city and the airport...
were later honored for their role in saving the school.
In 2008, the Board planned a new series of significant expansions to the school. The facilities plan includes a new World Languages building and English building, as well as a Performing Arts center. Ground was broken in June 2010, and the first phase of the construction will be completed in Fall 2011. The primary goal of the expansion is to modernize the school, and prepare students for "21st-century opportunities." Toward that end, new academic facilities will be equipped with SMART Boards and LED projectors
Video projector
A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens system. All video projectors use a very bright light to project the image, and most modern ones can correct any curves, blurriness, and other...
to integrate technology into the learning experience.
Curriculum
Robert Baldwin, a former Head of School, described the duty of College Prep teachers to maintain an "authentic presence in the classroom", that promotes openness between teachers and students. A College Prep English teacher, when asked in an interview for the book "Conversations With Great Teachers", described Baldwin as seeking teachers who "give off an aura of someone who is in the right place", by nourishing interest in students. For that reason, the curriculum at College Prep is created with "creativity", "independent thought", and "ethical sensitivity" as its primary goals. Students are not distinguished between enrollment in "honorsHonors course
Honors course is a distinction applied in the United States to certain classes to distinguish them from standard course offerings. The difference between a regular class and the honors class is not necessarily the amount of work, but the type of work required and the pace of studying...
" and standard courses, as all classes are taught at the "honors" level, and are designated as such by the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
. Students’ grade point averages are calculated on an unweighted 4.0 scale. Students are required to take three years of core curricular classes and an extra year of English
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
.
English
In order to facilitate the discursive nature of College Prep's rigorous English curriculum, classes are conducted at Harkness tableHarkness table
The Harkness table is a large, oval table used in a style of teaching, The Harkness Method, wherein students sit at the table with their teachers. This teaching method is in use at many American boarding schools and colleges. It encourages classes to be held in a discursive manner...
s: oval, wooden tables popularized by philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
Edward Harkness
Edward Harkness
Edward Stephen Harkness was an American philanthropist. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, one of four sons to Stephen V. Harkness, a harness-maker who invested in the forerunner of Standard Oil, John D. Rockefeller's oil company. Harkness inherited a fortune from his father...
when he presented the tables to Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
in the 1930s. Harkness believed that the tables encouraged students to actively participate in discussion, and that they constituted a "revolution" in liberal arts education. Because the number of Harkness tables currently available for classes is limited, the second phase of the school's facilities project will put the tables in all English classrooms.
As freshmen and sophomores, College Prep students learn basic composition and analytical writing through close reading of works from the literary canon, such as Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
, J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. Originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage confusion, angst, alienation, language, and rebellion. It has been translated into almost all of the world's major...
, Kafka's
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. It is often cited as one of the seminal works of short fiction of the 20th century and is widely studied in colleges and universities across the western world...
, and the works of Shakespeare. Juniors and seniors then use these skills to conduct classes in seminar
Seminar
Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is...
format, modeled after college-level English courses, interpreting texts through Socratic dialogue
Socratic dialogue
Socratic dialogue is a genre of prose literary works developed in Greece at the turn of the fourth century BC, preserved today in the dialogues of Plato and the Socratic works of Xenophon - either dramatic or narrative - in which characters discuss moral and philosophical problems, illustrating a...
. One recent seminar is "Rebels With a Cause", an exploration of the motivations and convictions of literary protagonists "willing to die for a cause", and includes analysis of Hemingway's
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to a republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As an expert in the use of explosives, he is assigned to blow up a...
, and Kesey's
Ken Kesey
Kenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (novel)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a novel written by Ken Kesey. Set in an Oregon asylum, the narrative serves as a study of the institutional process and the human mind, as well as a critique of Behaviorism and a celebration of humanistic principles. Written in 1959, the novel was adapted into a...
. Another recent seminar is entitled "Narrations Strange", and involves a close study of madness; Vonnegut's
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
Slaughterhouse-Five
Slaughterhouse-Five
Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death is a satirical novel by Kurt Vonnegut about World War II experiences and journeys through time of a soldier called Billy Pilgrim...
and Nabokov's
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...
Pale Fire
Pale Fire
Pale Fire is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is presented as a 999-line poem titled "Pale Fire", written by the fictional John Shade, with a foreword and lengthy commentary by a neighbor and academic colleague of the poet. Together these elements form a narrative in which both authors are...
are analyzed in order to understand the minds of unreliable narrator
Unreliable narrator
An unreliable narrator is a narrator, whether in literature, film, or theatre, whose credibility has been seriously compromised. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in The Rhetoric of Fiction. This narrative mode is one that can be developed by an author for a number of reasons, usually...
s in celebrated literature. Because of the seminar format, formal Advanced Placement
Advanced Placement Program
The Advanced Placement program is a curriculum in the United States and Canada sponsored by the College Board which offers standardized courses to high school students that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college...
English
AP English
AP English can stand for two distinct Advanced Placement Programs provided by the College Board:*AP English Language and Composition*AP English Literature and Composition...
courses are not offered, but many students still take the exam.
History
College Prep students must take courses in world historyWorld History
World History, Global History or Transnational history is a field of historical study that emerged as a distinct academic field in the 1980s. It examines history from a global perspective...
, western civilization, and United States history. As with the majority of College Prep classes, formal Advanced Placement
Advanced Placement Program
The Advanced Placement program is a curriculum in the United States and Canada sponsored by the College Board which offers standardized courses to high school students that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college...
classes are not offered, but the history department offers extracurricular preparation for interested students. After the mandatory history curriculum has been completed, seniors are offered seminar
Seminar
Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is...
-format elective classes. These courses regularly include introductory economics, linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, and United States government. Recently, seminars have been offered involving critical study into the American Civil War and Reconstruction, American history after World War II, American protest movements
Protest
A protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
, and comparative religion
Comparative religion
Comparative religion is a field of religious studies that analyzes the similarities and differences of themes, myths, rituals and concepts among the world's religions...
. Each year, a College Prep student is awarded the Myron Markel Prize, established by psychiatrist Bennett Markel in honor of his brother, to award exemplary critical analysis in writing about history.
World languages
College Prep offers five-year programs in French, Japanese, and Spanish and four-year programs in Mandarin Chinese and Latin. Advanced levels of all world language classes are Advanced PlacementAdvanced Placement Program
The Advanced Placement program is a curriculum in the United States and Canada sponsored by the College Board which offers standardized courses to high school students that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college...
preparatory. In order to facilitate some degree of language immersion
Language immersion
Language immersion is a method of teaching a second language in which the target language is used as the means of instruction. Unlike more traditional language courses, where the target language is simply the subject material, language immersion uses the target language as a teaching tool,...
, at around the second year of study English is no longer used in language classrooms.
Advanced Spanish and French students conduct classes in seminar
Seminar
Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is...
format, where students are immersed in particular aspects of their respective language's culture or literature through Socratic debate
Socratic dialogue
Socratic dialogue is a genre of prose literary works developed in Greece at the turn of the fourth century BC, preserved today in the dialogues of Plato and the Socratic works of Xenophon - either dramatic or narrative - in which characters discuss moral and philosophical problems, illustrating a...
. Recent Spanish elective seminars include a class in advanced conversational skills, Spanish literature
Spanish literature
Spanish literature generally refers to literature written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the state of Spain...
, and creative writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
, including a study of contemporary Spanish literary movements like magic realism
Magic realism
Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...
. Another Spanish language seminar explores Hispanic culture and involves close study of historical trends and current events in the Spanish-speaking world. A recent French seminar analyzed French literature
French literature
French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than French. Literature written in French language, by citizens...
and film
French Film
French Film is a 2008 British comedy film directed by Jackie Oudney and starring Anne-Marie Duff, Hugh Bonneville, Victoria Hamilton, Douglas Henshall and Eric Cantona. The film was shot in Spring 2007 at various locations around London including Waterloo station and the BFI Southbank.-Plot:Two...
, including Begag's
Azouz Begag
Azouz Begag, is a French writer, politician and researcher in economics and sociology at the CNRS. He was the delegate minister for equal opportunities of France in the government of French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin till 5 April 2007...
Le Gone du Chaâba
Le Gone du Chaâba
Le Gone du Chaâba , translated into English as Shantytown Kid by Naima Wolf, is an autobiographical novel by Azouz Begag about his life as a young Algerian boy growing up in a shantytown next to Lyon, France, called the Chaâba by its inhabitants...
and Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
's L'école des femmes.
College Prep's Latin curriculum places emphasis on ancient Roman literature and history. For two years the Cambridge Latin Course
Cambridge Latin Course
The Cambridge Latin Course is a series of textbooks published by Cambridge University Press, used to teach Latin to secondary school students. First published in 1970, the series is now in its fifth edition, and has sold over 3.5 million copies...
is used extensively, before students advance to studies of Cataline
Cataline
Cataline was the nickname given to Jean Caux or Jean-Jacques Caux, the most famous mule packer of the Canadian West.-Biography:In different biographies Cataline has been recorded as being born in Mexico, Spain and France...
and Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
through Sallust
Sallust
Gaius Sallustius Crispus, generally known simply as Sallust , a Roman historian, belonged to a well-known plebeian family, and was born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines...
's Bellum Catilinae and Cicero's In Catilinam. Advanced students study Vergil's Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
and write series of analytical essays in preparation for the Advanced Placement Latin examination. The Latin program participates in the local chapter of the California Junior Classical League, and all Latin students take the National Latin Exam annually.
The school's new Mandarin program seeks to provide a strong foundation in Chinese speaking and writing, with some study of Chinese culture. Students learn simplified Chinese characters before being introduced to the traditional script. As with all College Prep world language courses, Chinese becomes the only language of instruction, after two years of study. The Japanese program places greater emphasis on cultural aspects of Japanese language education. Japanese visitors regularly visit the campus to provide cultural presentations and serve as conversation partners. Classes focus heavily on Japanese literature and film, including the works of Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
and Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
. The curriculum is compliant with the National Standards for Japanese Language Learning
Japanese language education in the United States
Japanese language education in the United States began in the late 19th century, aimed mainly at Japanese American children and conducted by parents and community institutions. Over the course of the next century, it would slowly expand to include non-Japanese as well as native speakers...
.
Mathematics
Instead of requiring the use of a traditional textbookTextbook
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions...
, College Prep's math department writes its own practice problems
Mathematical problem
A mathematical problem is a problem that is amenable to being represented, analyzed, and possibly solved, with the methods of mathematics. This can be a real-world problem, such as computing the orbits of the planets in the solar system, or a problem of a more abstract nature, such as Hilbert's...
and course materials, and conducts lessons primarily within a lecture
Lecture
thumb|A lecture on [[linear algebra]] at the [[Helsinki University of Technology]]A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history,...
and discursive
Socratic dialogue
Socratic dialogue is a genre of prose literary works developed in Greece at the turn of the fourth century BC, preserved today in the dialogues of Plato and the Socratic works of Xenophon - either dramatic or narrative - in which characters discuss moral and philosophical problems, illustrating a...
format. College Prep breaks with the typical pre-college sequence of mathematics courses in the United States (See: Mathematics education in the United States
Mathematics education in the United States
From kindergarten through high-school, the mathematics education in public schools in the United States varies widely from state to state, and often even varies considerably within individual states...
) and follows an integrated curriculum
Integrated mathematics
Integrated mathematics is the term used in the United States to describe the style of mathematics education which integrates many topics or strands of mathematics throughout each year of secondary school. Each math course in secondary school covers topics in algebra, geometry, trigonometry and...
that combines numerous topics and strands of mathematics throughout the year. For this reason, classes are generically designated Math I through VI. Despite the integrated format, each section does maintain a concentration on a core mathematical field; Math I (algebra
Algebra
Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
), Math II (geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
), Math III (trigonometry
Trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves...
), Math IV (applied mathematics
Applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with mathematical methods that are typically used in science, engineering, business, and industry. Thus, "applied mathematics" is a mathematical science with specialized knowledge...
and analysis
Mathematical analysis
Mathematical analysis, which mathematicians refer to simply as analysis, has its beginnings in the rigorous formulation of infinitesimal calculus. It is a branch of pure mathematics that includes the theories of differentiation, integration and measure, limits, infinite series, and analytic functions...
), Math V (AB & BC
AP Calculus
Advanced Placement Calculus is used to indicate one of two distinct Advanced Placement courses and examinations offered by the College Board, AP Calculus AB and AP Calculus BC....
calculus
Calculus
Calculus is a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem...
), and Math VI (multivariable calculus
Multivariable calculus
Multivariable calculus is the extension of calculus in one variable to calculus in more than one variable: the differentiated and integrated functions involve multiple variables, rather than just one....
).
College Prep's mathematics curriculum combines visual
Visual learning
Visual learning is a teaching and learning style in which ideas, concepts, data and other information are associated with images and techniques...
, auditory
Auditory learning
Auditory learning is a learning style in which a person learns through listening. An auditory learner depends on hearing and speaking as a main way of learning. Auditory learners must be able to hear what is being said in order to understand and may have difficulty with instructions that are written...
, and kinesthetic
Kinesthetic learning
Kinesthetic learning is a learning style in which learning takes place by the student actually carrying out a physical activity, rather than listening to a lecture or merely watching a demonstration. It is also referred to as tactile learning...
instruction to learn concepts and skills. Classes are conducted in small, cooperative groups, and often involve introductory computational science
Computational science
Computational science is the field of study concerned with constructing mathematical models and quantitative analysis techniques and using computers to analyze and solve scientific problems...
through calculators and laptop computers. This format carries over to the schools' Math Club, which also competes in American Mathematics Competitions
American Mathematics Competitions
The American Mathematics Competitions are the first of a series of competitions in high school mathematics that determine the United States team for the International Mathematical Olympiad . This team, consisting of six high school students, competes in the IMO and has traditionally performed well...
and often qualifies students for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination
American Invitational Mathematics Examination
The American Invitational Mathematics Examination is a 15-question 3-hour test given since 1983 to those who rank in the top 5% on the AMC 12 high school mathematics contest , and starting in 2010, those who rank in the top 2.5% on the AMC 10.The AIME is the second of two tests used to determine...
and United States of America Mathematical Olympiad
United States of America Mathematical Olympiad
The United States of America Mathematical Olympiad is a high school mathematics competition held annually in the United States. Since its debut in 1972, it has served as the final round of the AMC series of contests...
.
Science
College Prep's science program establishes a foundation in scientific principles by requiring interdisciplinary study. While most public high schools teach introductory biologyBiology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
courses to freshman, College Prep follows the Physics First
Physics First
Physics First is an educational program that teaches a basic physics course in the ninth grade , rather than the biology course which is more standard in public schools. This course relies on the limited math skills that the students have from pre-algebra and algebra I...
model of teaching basic concepts of physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
to ninth grade students within an integrated laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
format. After completing courses in chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
and molecular
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
and environmental
Environmental science
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and biological sciences, to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems...
biology, students often elect to take Advanced Placement
Advanced Placement Program
The Advanced Placement program is a curriculum in the United States and Canada sponsored by the College Board which offers standardized courses to high school students that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college...
Physics
AP Physics
AP Physics defines three categories of high school physics courses: A, B, and C. Category A refers to general introductory physics courses that are not mathematically rigorous...
, Chemistry
AP Chemistry
Advanced Placement Chemistry is a course and examination offered by the College Board as a part of the Advanced Placement Program to give American and Canadian high school students the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities and earn college-level credit.-The course:AP Chemistry is a course...
, and Environmental Science
AP Environmental Science
Advanced Placement Environmental Science is a course offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program to high school students interested in the environmental and natural sciences...
courses. Elective classes are offered in astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, science ethics
Scientific misconduct
Scientific misconduct is the violation of the standard codes of scholarly conduct and ethical behavior in professional scientific research. A Lancet review on Handling of Scientific Misconduct in Scandinavian countries provides the following sample definitions: *Danish definition: "Intention or...
, animal behavior, and organic chemistry
Organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...
. Members of the science department operate a "Green Council" devoted to environmental sustainability initiatives and facilitating the "greening" of the College Prep campus.
Arts
College Prep students are required to fulfill the University of CaliforniaUniversity of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
Visual and Performing Arts education requirement by completing two semesters of arts classes within two disciplines. The Arts department therefore offers courses in visual arts
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
, drama, music and dance, and conducts collaborative productions between disciplines, such as musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
shows, and concert arts tours around California. A dedicated teaching space and performing arts center is planned as part of the school's ongoing facilities modernization.
The Visual Arts department teaches foundation- and advanced-level classes on creative and technical skills in drawing and design
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
. College Prep also has a dedicated darkroom
Darkroom
A darkroom is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light sensitive photographic materials, including photographic film and photographic paper. Darkrooms have been created and used since the inception of photography in the early 19th century...
for photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
students, who study film development and digital image making. Students who pass a portfolio review by the Visual Arts faculty are allowed to prepare individually for the Advanced Placement Studio Art examination.
The Drama program is centered around its Acting class and conducts two major drama productions each year, and is supported by stagecraft, drama tech, and digital video production classes. Drama at College Prep was recently recognized as one of the top drama programs in the country, and was invited to perform in the American High School Theatre Festival in 2007, part of the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
in Scotland.
Students in the Music program often perform in instrumental ensembles, performing both standard and "pop" repertoire. The orchestra, jazz band, and chamber music group organize regular concerts and attend the biennial music tour of California with the other Arts programs. The school also has a dedicated chorus
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
and vocal ensemble. Many students participate in the non-audition Chorus class, but advanced singers can audition for an Advanced Vocal Ensemble. Members of the A.V.E. are regularly selected to perform in the prestigious National Honor Choir organized by the American Choral Directors Association
American Choral Directors Association
The American Choral Directors Association , headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a non-profit organization with the stated purpose of promoting excellence in the field of choral music...
. Alumni of the A.V.E. also often participate in popular collegiate singing groups, such as the Harvard Din & Tonics
Harvard Din & Tonics
The Harvard Din & Tonics are a five-part jazz a cappella group from Harvard University, founded in 1979.- History :The group was founded in 1979 as a public service project of the Phillips Brooks House Association at Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, performing for the university...
.
Dance classes are offered at all levels, and students perform in high school dance festivals, senior centers, and in theaters throughout the Bay Area. The dance program focuses on modern dance with an emphasis on African American choreographers, and teaches the techniques of Lester Horton
Lester Horton
Lester Horton was an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher.-Early years:Lester Iradell Horton was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 23, 1906. His parents were Iradell Horton and Pollyanna Horton....
, José Limón
José Limón
José Arcadio Limón was a pioneer in the field of modern dance and choreography. In 1928, at age 20, he moved to New York City where he studied under Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. In 1946, Limón founded the José Limón Dance Company...
, Martha Graham
Martha Graham
Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
, Katherine Dunham
Katherine Dunham
Katherine Mary Dunham was an American dancer, choreographer, songwriter, author, educator, and activist...
, and Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey, Jr. was an American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. Ailey is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th century concert dance...
. Guest choreographers regularly visit the school to teach students. Dance is highly popular at College Prep, and the program usually has around 70 dancers at one time.
Technology
In an attempt to combine technology and student life, the school operates three full-service computer labComputer lab
A computer lab, also known as a computer suite or computer cluster is typically a room which contains many networked computers for public use...
s and four classrooms fully equipped with laptop computers. Each faculty member is provided a laptop for classroom instruction. Beginning with the Class of 2014, every incoming student is provided an Apple MacBook Pro
MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro is a line of Macintosh portable computers introduced in January 2006 by Apple. It replaced the PowerBook G4 and was the second model, after the iMac, to be announced in the Apple–Intel transition...
computer, with the aim of universally integrating technology into the curriculum. The program is financed by a supplementary "technology fee" to the tuition. Families may opt out of the school-purchase plan if they purchase their own equipment. When a student graduates, the computer belongs to them.
Advising
Academics center around an advisor system that matches each student with a faculty member who help students to organize their schedules and provide guidance, while serving as a liaison between students' parents and the school. Senior mentors help freshmen facilitate their transition into high school. College Prep also offers counseling and health education programs conducted by a full-time health educator and counselor, a trained child psychologist, who provides comprehensive support to students and conducts a mandatory health program for sophomores intended to introduce them to health topics and encourage them to make healthful choices.College counseling
College Prep has an intensive and individualized counseling process for college admissions - two counselors are staffed full-time, and students begin regularly meeting with their assigned counselor beginning in the middle of their junior year. Current college counselors have previously served as directors of admission at the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. Individual meetings take place weekly, and students are required to attend periodic workshops regarding the admissions process.
Community service
College Prep students have robust involvement in community serviceCommunity service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
projects. Students participate in service efforts as a class - sophomores and seniors are involved in maintenance projects at Point Reyes
Point Reyes
Point Reyes is a prominent cape on the Pacific coast of northern California. It is located in Marin County approximately WNW of San Francisco. The term is often applied to the Point Reyes Peninsula, the region bounded by Tomales Bay on the northeast and Bolinas Lagoon on the southeast...
, and juniors cooperate with Rebuilding Together
Rebuilding Together
Rebuilding Together is the nation's leading non-profit organization working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize neighborhoods by providing critical home repair and modification services to those in need at no cost to homeowners...
to assist in various projects around the Bay Area. Students also cook for men and women's shelters in Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. In addition, schoolwide participation in Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
and Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
is common.
Retreat
The school organizes a number of special retreats for each class. Freshman retreat is conducted at the Headlands campus of the Yosemite Institute, north of the Golden Gate BridgeGolden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
, and is designed to help students adjust to high school. Sophomores retreat on the American River
American River
The American River is a California watercourse noted as the site of Sutter's Mill, northwest of Placerville, California, where gold was found in 1848, leading to the California Gold Rush...
and participate in a whitewater rafting trip. Junior retreat is an exercise in leadership training and involves extensive group discussion and activities on an outdoor ropes course
Ropes course
A ropes course is a challenging outdoor personal development and team building activity which usually consists of high and/or low elements. Low elements take place on the ground or only a few feet above the ground...
. Seniors do community service at Point Reyes
Point Reyes
Point Reyes is a prominent cape on the Pacific coast of northern California. It is located in Marin County approximately WNW of San Francisco. The term is often applied to the Point Reyes Peninsula, the region bounded by Tomales Bay on the northeast and Bolinas Lagoon on the southeast...
and discuss the transition from high school to college, providing an informal setting to say goodbye before graduation.
Diversity
A Diversity Coordinator facilitates discussion of diversityMulticulturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
among faculty, staff, and students. Students attend the yearly conference for People of Color in Independent Schools and stage regular events such as forums, guest speakers, and classroom discussions. The Diversity Center also heads a "Freshman Foundations" program that introduces students to challenges of diversity that occur in high school. Students also participate in the school's various cultural diversity organizations.
Intraterm
An Intraterm period takes place in the week before spring breakSpring break
Spring break – also known as March break, Study week or Reading week in the United Kingdom and some parts of Canada – is a recess in early spring at universities and schools in the United States, Canada, mainland China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the United...
, and consists of special courses, field studies and internships offered to students outside of the regular curriculum. Recent Intraterm classes include "U.S. History through 'The Enemy' in American Cinema," a study of 20th century American history through depictions of enemies in American cinema, and "Art on the Run," a field study of art and culture through trips to Bay Area museums and landmarks, such as the Gates of Hell
Gates of hell
The Gates of Hell are various locations on the surface of Earth that have acquired a legendary reputation for being entrances to the underworld...
at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and The Thinker
The Thinker
The Thinker is a bronze and marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin, whose first cast, of 1902, is now in the Musée Rodin in Paris; there are some twenty other original castings as well as various other versions, studies, and posthumous castings. It depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a...
at the Palace of the Legion of Honor. Juniors may opt out of Intraterm classes or trips in order to visit colleges. Annual participation in Intraterm is a graduation requirement.
Athletics
College Prep athletics has a variety of interscholastic teams, though some field sports such as football are not offered because College Prep does not own a field. Because of the school's small size, and the school policy of exempting students from Physical Education classes during a semester of participation, the percent of students who join sports teams is exceptionally high; over 20% of Prep students were on the soccer team in 2007, for example.College Prep is one of ten schools in the Bay Counties League - East
Bay Counties League - East
The Bay Counties League – East is a school athletic conference located in the East Bay Area. The league is a member of the North Coast Section, one of ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation. There are seven current member schools...
. The school's mascot is the Cougar, and the school colors are blue, maroon, and white. The CPS rival is the Jayhawk
Jayhawk
For the origin of the term, see JayhawkerJayhawk may also refer to:-Vehicles:*HH-60 Jayhawk, US Coast Guard medium range recovery helicopter *T-1A Jayhawk, twin-engine jet trainer used by the US Air Force...
of Head-Royce School
Head-Royce School
Head-Royce School is a co-educational college-preparatory K-12 school in Oakland, California. The forerunner of Head-Royce was the Anna Head School for Girls in Berkeley, founded in 1887...
.
As a separate component of the school's modernization and expansion project, the Board also negotiated the unrestricted use of the Tom Bates Fields, an athletic compound adjacent to the Golden Gate Fields
Golden Gate Fields
Golden Gate Fields is an American horse racing track straddling both Albany, California and Berkeley, California along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the Eastshore Freeway in the San Francisco Bay Area...
, for use by College Prep athletics.
Debate
The school has a competitive policy debatePolicy debate
Policy debate is a form of speech competition in which teams of two advocate for and against a resolution that typically calls for policy change by the United States federal government or security discourse...
team, which has reached elimination rounds at multiple national tournaments, including winning the national Tournament of Champions
Tournament of Champions (debate)
The Tournament of Champions is a high school debate tournament held annually at the University of Kentucky on the first weekend of May. It is the most prestigious tournament on the "national circuit," representing some of the most competitively successful debaters from the nation's most prestigious...
in 2003 and reaching the final round of the National Speech and Debate Tournament
National Speech and Debate Tournament
The National Speech and Debate Tournament is a week-long high school championship forensics competition hosted by the National Forensic League...
in 2004. Alumni of the College Prep debate program have gone on to win the prestigious Rex Copeland Award for the top-ranked college policy debate team in the country as well as reach late elimination rounds of the National Debate Tournament
National Debate Tournament
The National Debate Tournament is one of the national championships for collegiate policy debate in the United States. The tournament is sponsored by the American Forensic Association with the Ford Motor Company Fund.-History of the NDT:...
. In 2010, the debate program qualified three teams to both the Tournament of Champions and the National Speech and Debate Tournament. College Prep's Lincoln-Douglas debate team also competes regularly competes at the Tournament of Champions, the National Speech and Debate Tournament, and the California State Championship. In 2008, a College Prep Lincoln-Douglas debater placed third in the California State Championship.
In addition to its debate team, College Prep hosts an annual round-robin
Round-robin
The term round-robin was originally used to describe a document signed by multiple parties in a circle to make it more difficult to determine the order in which it was signed, thus preventing a ringleader from being identified...
policy debate tournament known as the "California Round Robin" every February, where top policy debate teams in the country are invited to participate. Rounds are held on the school campus and in conference rooms provided by the Oakland office of the Reed Smith
Reed Smith
Reed Smith LLP is a global law firm, with more than 1,600 lawyers in 23 offices throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia....
law firm. The California Round Robin is unique from traditional tournaments in that the school invites experts on the year's resolution
Resolution (policy debate)
In policy debate, a resolution or topic is a normative statement which the affirmative team affirms and the negative team negates. Resolutions are selected annually by affiliated schools....
to judge the final round. Because the final round is held the night before the popular California Invitational tournament at UC Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, it is usually well attended by the invitational's competitors.
The debate team is supported by an endowment from the Julia Burke Foundation, and the foundation offers a scholarship to both the "Debater of the Year" at College Prep and the Julia Burke Flame for Excellence scholarship at the national policy debate Tournament of Champions
Tournament of Champions (debate)
The Tournament of Champions is a high school debate tournament held annually at the University of Kentucky on the first weekend of May. It is the most prestigious tournament on the "national circuit," representing some of the most competitively successful debaters from the nation's most prestigious...
in memory of Julia Burke, a young debater who died in a car accident while a student at College Prep.
Chess
There is no official chessChess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
team as CPS. However, CPS has had several nationally ranked chess players, including the California State chess champion and the bronze medalist at the World Youth Chess Championship
World Youth Chess Championship
The World Youth Chess Championship is a chess competition for girls and boys under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18.The first predecessor of the youth championship was the Cadet Championship. It started off unofficially in 1974 in France for players under 18. The 1975 and 1976 editions were also...
. There is a strong chess presence on campus, including several chess sets near the gymnasium that receive regular use.
Events and traditions
- The school newspaper is the "College Prep Radar", and the yearbook is known as Entropy.
- Every year the school features a large scale performing arts event, alternating yearly between a musical and music "tour", where the Chorus, AVE, Jazz Band, Orchestra, Chamber Music, and Intermediate and Advanced Dance classes perform around California. Also, there are music concerts, art exhibitions, and dance shows several times each semester on the school's campus.
- "Snow Trip" is a three-day all-school trip to Bear Valley in the Sierra Nevadas after semester finals in January
- "CPS Day" is a morning of alternative education and an afternoon of work assignments for the benefit of the school grounds
- "Intraterm" is a week in the middle of spring semester which affords students the opportunity to travel on an organized trip or take or teach alternative classes.
- Students participate in various community-awareness activities such as OxfamOxfamOxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
and Adopt-a-Family. - "Senior Ditch Day" is a healthy College Prep tradition where seniors decorate the school with elaborate signs and artwork, adhering to one unified theme. It generally takes place in the last few weeks of school, and is actually condoned and chaperoned by several faculty members, who remove content that is in poor taste.
Tuition and endowment
Tuition for the 2011-2012 school year is $32,580, with 24 percent of the student body receiving need-based grants.College Prep's endowment is very low compared to other schools of its caliber. According to PrepReview.com, endowment is currently $11 million, or about $30,000 per student. The average endowment for the top 30 day schools listed on the site is $46 million.
Test scores
The mean SAT Reasoning Test scores (on a scale of 200-800) for the College Prep Class of 2010 were 712 critical reading, 700 math and 700 writing. The most recent national averages were 501 critical reading, 515 math and 493 writing. In 2010, 146 students took 280 Advanced Placement exams in 19 different subjects with 95% of the scores 3 or higher.Notable alumni
- Cher WangCher WangCher Wang is a Taiwanese entrepreneur. Wang is a co-founder and the chairperson of the HTC Corporation and VIA Technologies. Her father was Wang Yung-ching, who was one of the richest individuals in Taiwan...
(1977), billionaire founder of smartphoneSmartphoneA smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
company HTC (High Tech Computer Corporation). - Chris TashimaChris TashimaChris Tashima is a Japanese American actor and director. He is co-founder of the entertainment company Cedar Grove Productions and Artistic Director of its Asian American theatre company, Cedar Grove OnStage. He is the son of U.S. Circuit Judge A. Wallace Tashima...
(1978), Academy Award-winning filmmaker and actor. - David MarchickDavid MarchickDavid M. Marchick was the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and director of intergovernmental affairs in the Office of the United States Trade Representative during the Clinton Administration. While working under Clinton, he helped to coordinate the passage of the North American Free Trade...
(1984), former Deputy Assistant Secretary of StateSecretary of StateSecretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
and director of intergovernmental affairs in the Office of the United States Trade RepresentativeOffice of the United States Trade RepresentativeThe Office of the United States Trade Representative is the United States government agency responsible for developing and recommending United States trade policy to the president of the United States, conducting trade negotiations at bilateral and multilateral levels, and coordinating trade...
under the Clinton Administration, currently Managing Director and Global Head of Regulatory Affairs of the Carlyle GroupCarlyle GroupThe Carlyle Group is an American-based global asset management firm, specializing in private equity, based in Washington, D.C. The Carlyle Group operates in four business areas: corporate private equity, real assets, market strategies and fund-of-funds, through its AlpInvest subsidiary... - Edie MeidavEdie Meidav-Life:She graduated with a B.A., Yale University, and M.F.A., Mills College.Her fiction, poetry, and criticism have appeared in Writing on Air , On Globalization , Now Write! Fiction Writing Exercises from Today's Best Teachers and Writers , and other anthologies, and in Village Voice,...
(1984), novelist and recipient of the Lannan Literary Fellowship. - Carol Chodroff (1988), United States Advocacy Director for Human Rights WatchHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
. - Eric Robbins (1990), author of The Casual Conservationist
- Zachary Coile (1991), communications director for California senatorUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Barbara BoxerBarbara BoxerBarbara Levy Boxer is the junior United States Senator from California . A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives ....
, former editor at the San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
. - Christin Evans (1991), owner of San Francisco independent bookstore BooksmithBooksmithFounded in October 1976, The Booksmith is an independent bookstore located in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. When first opened, the store was located at 1746 Haight Street, below the former I-Beam nightclub. In 1985, the store moved to its current location at 1644 Haight Street...
. - Johanna FatemanJohanna FatemanJohanna Fateman is a writer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. She is a member of the post-punk rock band Le Tigre and founded the band MEN with Le Tigre bandmate JD Samson.-Background and career:...
(1992), zineZineA zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
editor and member of feminist post-punkPost-punkPost-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
rock band Le TigreLe TigreLe Tigre is an American electroclash band, formed by Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman in 1998. It also featured Sadie Benning from 1998 until 2001, and JD Samson for the rest of the group's run...
. - Miranda JulyMiranda JulyMiranda July is a performing artist, writer, actress and film director. Born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger, she works under the surname of "July," which can be traced to a character from a "girlzine" Miranda created with high school friend Johanna Fateman, called Snarla.- Background :Miranda...
(1992), performance artPerformance artIn art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
ist, writer, and filmmaker. - Romesh RatnesarRomesh RatnesarRomesh Ratnesar is an Asian-American journalist and author. He is the former Deputy Managing Editor at TIME magazine, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.-Early life:...
(1992), World Editor and member of senior editorial staff at TIME magazine. - Siobahn Carpenter (1993), international correspondent for The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
. - Kat FosterKat FosterKat Foster, sometimes credited as Kathy Foster , is an American actress.A classically trained dramatic actress, Foster studied acting at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts...
(1996), actress. - David Pruess (1999), International Master, U. S. Chess FederationUnited States Chess FederationThe United States Chess Federation is a non-profit organization, the governing chess organization within the United States, and one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 from the merger of two regional chess organizations, and grew gradually until 1972, when membership...
. - Justin RosensteinJustin RosensteinJustin Rosenstein is the co-creator of the collaborative software company Asana along with Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz.-Personal life:...
(2001), former FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
software engineer, co-creator of AsanaAsana (web application)Asana is a "collaborative information manager" Web 2.0 application designed to streamline business communication and facilitate workplace efficiency. It is being developed by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and engineering manager Justin Rosenstein, who left Facebook together to pursue the...
with Facebook co-founder Dustin MoskovitzDustin MoskovitzDustin Moskovitz is an American internet entrepreneur who co-founded the social networking website Facebook along with Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin and Chris Hughes. Moskovitz owns a 6% share of Facebook. He is also a co-founder and the CEO of Asana. Moskovitz is Jewish...
. - Elliot Tarloff (2001), aide to former Vice President Al Gore and researcher for An Inconvenient TruthAn Inconvenient TruthAn Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...
. - Samuel Shankland (2009), Grandmaster-Elect, U. S. Chess FederationUnited States Chess FederationThe United States Chess Federation is a non-profit organization, the governing chess organization within the United States, and one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 from the merger of two regional chess organizations, and grew gradually until 1972, when membership...
.