What Brings Eastside Students to M-A?

A version of this article was originally published on Dec. 22, 2024. It was edited on Jan. 24, 2025 to include statements from Eastside administration, current students, and alumni.

Every year, new students join and leave the M-A community. While most transfer students have unique reasons for their switch, nearly every interviewed student who transferred from Eastside College Preparatory School had the same one—time. 

Eastside, a private high school in East Palo Alto, is committed to “opening new doors for students historically underrepresented in higher education.” Unlike other high schools, Eastside students must stay on campus until 5 p.m. to finish work and meet with teachers. “We want to make sure it’s built in that they have access to teachers to be able to get their homework done and ask questions before they go home,” Eastside Vice Principal Helen Kim said. 

“I get my homework done before the end of the school day, so I don’t have to worry about it,” Eastside junior Anyrah Green-Frazier said. Other Eastside students said they sometimes have homework left to complete at home in spite of the built-in work time.

While the extended schedule can provide extra academic support for students, some students feel it limits their social life and extracurricular activities. As a result, at least twelve current M-A students have transferred from Eastside. 

“I wanted to go to Homecoming dances and football games—things that we didn’t have at Eastside,” junior Monte Galvin said. “All of our activities were academic-based, so they weren’t fun.” Since transferring to M-A at the start of this school year, Galvin has enjoyed school activities while meeting new friends. 

“I like that M-A is a bigger community,” senior Emi Jackson said. “I can choose my classes at M-A, versus at Eastside, I couldn’t.” Jackson, who transferred in the middle of her junior year, found being able to choose classes she was interested in improved her GPA.

At Eastside, core academic classes are uniformly required for each student from freshman to junior year. Although there is less choice for students, by incorporating community college credit alongside necessary UC and CSU A-G courses, Eastside students graduate eligible to most colleges and are already equipped with college credits. Many public schools like M-A offer more course choices, but their graduation requirements don’t fully align with California’s A-G requirements.

“When it comes to classes, I have a foundation of how to study that allows me to control my schedule,” Eastside alum Ashley Mobley said. “Since I took Foothill classes in high school, I got to skip the first level of English and math in college, which is great.”

“This policy sets them up to explore some more classes in college because they’ve already done some of their math and English requirements,” Kim added. 

However, navigating such a rigorous schedule came with challenges for many students. 

“It was really hard for me to keep up with sports practice and heavy tutoring and schoolwork,” junior Ape Ulukivaiola, who chose to attend M-A for its basketball program, said. 

The influx of students transferring from Eastside to M-A raises the question of how to balance fun with academics. Some praise Eastside for its dedication to academic growth. However, some students disagree, emphasizing the importance of social development in the education system.

“Now that I’m in college, I realize how much I missed out on my teen years,” Mobley said. “We always finished so late. I lived in the dorms so I wasn’t able to go out unless it was an outing that they gave to us.” 

According to Kim, although the number of students transferring away from Eastside has generally remained the same, M-A has become an increasingly common landing spot for students. “It’s a larger school—big Homecomings and a big school atmosphere. M-A is definitely the choice if that’s the kind of high school experience you’re looking for,” she said.

While many note that Eastside offers less time for large social events, it provides them with tight-knit relationships. “I miss how small the community was. It was kind of like a family,” M-A transfer Mayoni Williams said. 

“At Eastside you know almost everybody—every single staff member and student that attends,” Green-Frazier said. “For senior night games and games in general, our gym is always packed with Eastside students and parents, everybody’s there to support each other.”

Transferring has ultimately allowed students to determine how they will use their time in high school. “I feel like I’m having way more fun at M-A,” Galvin concluded. “Learning to balance social life and academics is really the main thing.”