This section will cover a brief overview of the history of East Palo Alto, provide more information about what the Tinsley Program is, and the history of housing discrimination in Palo Alto and the effects on East Palo Alto.

Palo Alto’s history and community is intertwined with East Palo Alto. With the Tinsley Program, students from East Palo Alto grow up going to Palo Alto schools, taking classes with Palo Alto students, but also never learn about their own home city of East Palo Alto. In the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) school social science curriculum for 3rd grade students, students learn about the local communities which they live in. [1] However, this local history excludes East Palo Alto, and thus excludes East Palo Alto students. Palo Alto high schools are beginning to adjust to focus more on local history in the junior year US history curriculum. This curriculum includes both East Palo Alto and Palo Alto, which is definitely a positive step in a more inclusive direction.

Students from both Palo Alto and East Palo Alto deserve to know the connection between these two cities and how it impacts the makeup of the cities, their schools, and interactions with each other today. Additionally, while many people recognize and see East Palo Alto as the once notorious “Murder Capital of the USA”, little is discussed about the active history of resistance and activism in the community which also demands recognition. [2]