About College Connection Academy

College Connection Academy (CCA) is an unprecedented award-winning collaborative effort between Franklin-McKinley School District, East Side Union High School District, Evergreen Valley College, and San Jose State University. The result of the collective undertaking was the start of CCA in 2008, a program for grades 7-12 housed on the campuses of Yerba Buena High School and Evergreen Valley College. The four academic partners have combined and integrated their resources to make the academy successful. CCA has the same autonomy and freedom to deal with curriculum, teaching, and learning that students at a charter school receive. Our goal is to elevate, inspire, and support students to become highly successful in college.

Mission Statement

Recognizing the need to foster a more educated workforce to meet the demands of our changing economy inspired the creation of an innovative partnership between the Franklin-McKinley School District, the East Side Union High School District, Evergreen Valley College, and San Jose State University. Our four academic communities aim to increase the number of first-generation college graduates, equipping them with the education and experience they need to succeed in life and family-supporting careers.

Vision Statement

College Connection Academy (CCA) is based on the values of college and career readiness. CCA students will be global and critical thinkers who are ethical, courageous, and compassionate. They will possess the leadership skills that allow them to navigate and succeed in a complex and challenging world with self-confidence and awareness of their responsibility to the collective community.

Leadership and civic engagement through CCA transforms the traditional classroom experience by interweaving hands-on, process-focused experiential learning in the context of local and global community issues. Students will learn to challenge their own comfort zone as they engage themselves and others in mindful inquiry and analyses. They will learn to handle controversial issues with civility and compassion for multiple perspectives while discovering the impact of their own action or inaction. Students will ensure there is a voice for the marginalized.

CCA intends to create a ripple effect that will not only change the students’ lives and the lives of their families, but also the life of their community.

Graduates of College Connection Academy will:

• Be academically and emotionally prepared to take on the responsibility of young adulthood.

• Be committed to equity and social justice.

• Be able to create a clear vision, and share it in a way that inspires others.

• Be confident in the power of their own voice while respecting the voices of others and sometimes speaking for those not present.

• Be able to take time to recognize success and celebrate it.

• Be able to see humor and appreciate it.