East LA students 'get excited' and make history

“It's like a dream come true,” said director Rosa Elena Alanís. “This generation of 95 college-going students represents the achievements of teachers, parents, and most importantly, students.”

Since the charter school's opening in August 2017, administrators, teachers, counselors and all parties involved in the educational process have set the goal that all seniors will graduate with excellent academic performance grades . The average of these 95 Esperanza College Prep students is 3.44.

“Get excited!” was the prevailing motto among those committed to high-quality instruction and personalized support that is tailored to each student's needs.

“With desire, everything is possible; it is one of our values”, expressed Rosa Elena Alanís, to La Opinión. “We always teach students and their parents to strive with love to reach the goal.”

As part of the EdNovate network of free, independent public charter schools, Esperanza College Prep had autonomy and the flexibility to tailor their school to the needs of students.

This autonomy was particularly reflected since the closure of the school on March 13, 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic.

“The entire EdNovate team decided that all the students would be sent home with a computer and prepared, in order to continue the virtual teaching 100% of their expenses were covered [470 students in total, of which grades 9-12]”, reported Nadia López, coordinator of families and students.

“Later, we made certain changes in class schedules, breaks, support with office hours, families who needed food were helped weekly, if they did not have Wi-Fi or the computer did not work, everyone had support technician," he said.

Through EdNovate, which operates Legacy College Prep charter schools in Santa Ana; USC Hybrid High College Prep; Esperanza College Prep in East Los Angeles; Brío College Prep in the Pico-Union area; East College Prep in Lincoln Heights and South LA College Prep, families were helped with money to pay their utility bills so that students could focus on their virtual studies.

“Also, we were able to provide money for the burials to the families that lost relatives,” added Nadia López. “In the difficult moments, EdNovate was with the families and the students… that had a lot to do with us reaching 100% acceptances in universities”.

Although the 95 students of the Esperanza College Prep school, located at 4545 Dozier Street, in East Los Angeles will have their graduation party next June and a month later they will attend face-to-face classes at the universities, Laurie Ugalde, who has been appointed student coordinator, will follow up with everyone, together with the university counselor, Álvaro Rodríguez.

Luis Cruz wants to buy his mother a house and his father a truck

María Isabel Pulido Rentería is a mother from Jalisco who smiles broadly because of her four children, two are already in college and her The only boy, 18-year-old Luis Cruz, was accepted to Ivy League universities, but he decided on the prestigious Stanford University.

“As a mother, it's a dream,” said María Isabel, a native of Guadalajara, Mexico. “In them I see reflected my aspirations to be someone in life; I wanted to be a surgeon or a lawyer, but my parents did not have money to pay me for a degree”.

Luis applied to the Ivy League universities: Brown, Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania and six more.

“I was accepted at 14, but I decided my future is at Stanford University,” declared Luis, a quiet but super-intelligent young man. His academic average is 4.72.

His sister Laurie is studying counseling and his sister Carolina is at UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

If the mother's dreams were to give her children a university education, based on great sacrifices, now Luis's dream is to buy a house and a Toyota Thunder truck for his father, Luis Javier Cruz.

The Esperanza College Prep student has in mind to study Political Science, although he also wants to pursue a professional career in teaching and instruction of English.

“I would like to teach what I have learned and I know that I can influence the new generations so that they learn to know that by working hard you can achieve the goals you set for yourself”, said Luis.

In fact, he has received $1,000 scholarships and at Stanford they will help him with $82,000 to finish the professional career of his choice.

Apart from studying, when she can, she will continue helping her family with the business of renting chairs, tables, and bounce houses for parties.

“He is a very special boy,” said the proud mother. "He knows how to earn his own money."

However, Mr. Luis Javier Cruz, despite being undocumented, was not intimidated if his son had decided to go study outside of California and have to go through immigration checkpoints.

“I don't care where you go, wherever you are, we'll find a way to go see you,” said María Isabel about her husband's words to their son Luis.

“He had already accepted that he was going to go far away, but he said that if he had to drive 30 hours, he would, whether or not there was a “‘migra” because he loves all his children equally.”

Grace González wants to open a restaurant for her mother

Grace González is 18 years old and her mother Elvia Martínez dedicates herself, works and sells tamales so that her daughter can go to university, a goal that they both are committed to about to meet because the excellent student from Esperanza College Prep was accepted to start her professional career at UC Berkeley.

Every day, starting at 6:30 in the morning, Elvia, a native of San Sebastián Teitipac, Oaxaca, puts on a tamale course in the Plaza del Mariachi and with the little or much she earns, she saves to cover expenses from home and help her daughter with her studies.

“I have told her that she is going to be my responsibility until she finishes college,” said this single mother, who has another young son named Rey. “That is my daughter's future, not one's, so that she can better defend herself later; I know that she is going to leave very soon, but I will travel to see her”.

For her part, Boyle Heights native Grace happily expresses her goals to double major in business administration and sociology.

“I’m still waiting to find out if they give me the housing offer in Berkeley,” he told La Opinión.” Next week my adviser [Alejandra Chávez] and I will travel to Berkeley to get answers.”

Grace González, who said she loved mathematics, obtained a 4.0 GPA, which is why she had greater chances of being accepted to the prestigious university in Northern California.

Besides the two careers she wants, Grace has other goals. She wants to succeed financially in her life and help her mother, who has raised her, along with her brother, her King.

“She has had multiple jobs so that we don't lack for anything, so when I can, I'm going to help her have her own restaurant,” he stressed. "My mom cooks very well, she works in a restaurant, but it will be better when she has hers."

It's just that Grace carries some of her school's mottos well-learned in her veins: Win, Family and Culture.

“I want him to persevere in his studies and overcome difficult obstacles. To my family, because I have the support of my mother who is with me in good and bad times; and the culture, because I feel proud of my Mexican roots and of knowing who I am”.