ARISE High School is a small charter school in East Oakland,
California which prepares students from low income families to be the first in
their families to attend college. Our students experience socio-economic
disadvantage (93%) and our English Language Learners (74%). Despite those
challenges, 90.6% of our graduates were accepted to a four-year university last
year. THAT is our mission - empower ourselves with the skills, knowledge,
and agency to become highly educated, humanizing, critically conscious,
intellectual, and reflective leaders in our community.
-James Baldwin, Business
Development Manager
On our first outing to the
Fruitvale area Phillip and I were taken aback by the lively environment that
surrounded ARISE. We were, at first, concerned that we were in the wrong
location as the plethora of restaurants and shops greeted us on the ground
floor. It was only after locating a directory that we discovered ARISE on the
second floor of the Village. We were eventually buzzed in through the locked
glass from entrance of the school and met shortly after with Mr. Baldwin. He
kindly introduced himself and gave us an overview of the demographics and most
importantly the mission of the school. Clearly posted on the colorful walls was
a list of six statements indicating the schools objectives for their students. 
We were allowed to walk through
the school hall and found that each classroom we peered into was alive with
student contributions. One classroom in particular had the periodic table
clearly painted on the wall (who needs a poster, right?). A teacher emerged from the end of the hall
and offered us her classroom, which was not in session at the moment, so we
could get an idea of the typical setup. The arrangement proved to be FAR from
typical. As soon as we entered the room we were faced with a gorgeous mural
depicting some of the interests and ideologies of the students who helped to
create it. This masterpiece breathed life into the classroom and stole away all
notions that this school was anything but unique.
Baldwin began to describe the
holistic educational style of the school, which prides itself on providing relevant
and meaningful material for their students. He explained that students are
asked to give a borderline college Thesis presentation in which they are
required to present their topics via a 45-minute presentation to a board of
staff. As impressive as this was I was more impressed that the students were
being educated in a fashion that perfectly balanced Critical Pedagogy alongside
the “real-world” academic preparation necessitated by Colleges.
While our time at ARISE was short,
I was left with a lasting impression that this school had its wits about it. The
combination of place and content made for a truly unique experience that was
accounted for in full by the success of their students. 
To have a little more understanding of who attends ARISE, we have included here some demographical information about the students and staff from the 2011-2012 SARC Report.
- Population: 236
- Average Class Size: 28.6 students
- 128 Hispanic or Latino self-identified students
- 8 Black or African American self-identified students
- 21 disabled learners
- 161 ESL students
- Staffing
- Teachers: 10
- Teacher:Student ratio 1:19
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