Every student has the potential to attend college and succeed.

By middle school, many low-income students of color in San Jose’s poorest neighborhoods have been tracked into a vicious cycle of failure, having fallen well below grade level and lacking the support they need to overcome their disconnect from school.

ACE is wholly focused on these children and works diligently with them and their families to show them that college is possible. They focus all of their outreach on the most struggling and disengaged students and families.

The ACE student body is 92% low-income, 50% English learners, 93% first-generation college students, and 20% students with Special Needs.

Key Outcomes
-80% of graduates enroll in college
-95% of alumni are first-generation college students
-95% of first graduating class have continued to sophomore year in college (4x the rate for a low-income student of color)

Their high school students are excelling: on the 2017 state tests, ACE 11th graders scored #1 among all San Jose charters.