San Jose Middle College @ San Jose City College
San Jose Unified Schools
San Jose Unified Schools
San Jose Middle College was first opened in 1990. Broadway Continuation High School was growing too large. In analyzing how to deal with the overcrowding, it was realized that they needed programs for “smart” kids that weren’t succeeding. They decided to start Middle College [called Project Advance at first] and Career Academy as two alternative programs for these students.
Thirty-seven 11th and 12th grade students were selected for the first year. Each grade level had one teacher, and they took English and Social Science as high school classes. All students had to take two semesters of Guidance that the college instructed. The college assigned Middle College its own counselor, who ran the guidance class. Later, Middle College students took Guidance with college students, rather than in their own high school class. Students signed up for one or two college classes to finish out their schedules.
In the past few years, Middle College has had three teachers, having added a Math/Science teacher. The student population has varied between 65 and 95 students per semester. Middle College experiences about a 30-40% turnover each semester, as some students graduate and others arrive for their first semester in the program.