Why do we need CCPY here in East San Jose?

CCPY provides on-site, direct service to students at High Schools in the East Side Union High School District which serves one of San Jose's highest crime and gang-affected neighborhoods. We also server mid-school youths.  Here, the dropout rate is among the worst in the county -- 35%....The drop out rate for Latino youths is over 50%.

 

CCPY helps the families by engaging these youth, and giving them amazing enrichment opportunities and guidance, on-site in the idle and dangerous "after school" hours. We work currently with nearly 200 youth -- 98% are Hispanic, 80% qualify for the free/reduced lunch program, and with an average 3rd grade reading level upon entering 9th grade. C-CPY is their life-line --- the majority of our students are the ones identified as most likely in the district to be truant and cut, drop out and enter gangs and the criminal justice system. ...Ours are the ones most likely to drop out.


What is CCPY's impact?

  • Over 90% of CCPY Step Up students make the transition from middle school to high school and stay in school.
  • Over 80% accomplish one or more of the specific goals they set for themselves.
  • Our students have average 95% school attendance rates and attend over 80% of the weekly life-skills coaching sessions offered on-site, after school.


How does CCPY do it?

CCPY focuses on teens old enough to understand they have the ability to make new life choices, regardless of their history and current life circumstances. Our curriculum design works to reconnect youth with a sense of personal responsibility and vision for their lives and is structured over 3 years, in the programs: Step Up, Step Ahead and Step Beyond/Alcanzar. CCPY's core Youth at Risk cirriculm has been developed and tested with outstanding results in Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Puerto Rico and New York.

We use a combination of group training sessions, weekly 1:1 coaching provided by CCPY staff members, relationship building activities with trained mentors, 4-day camp retreat with Ropes Course, and monthly community meetings including parents and families. Our message - "We are each able to and accountable for creating the future we want. And, no one is more able to affect our futures than ourselves"

CCPY connects local at-risk youth with personal accountability and an inspiring vision for their lives. The program helps youth:

  • Understand they have the ability to make new life choices, regardless of their current life circumstances.
  • Live inspired lives based on the idea that "my life matters."
  • Increase lifetime earnings for themselves and their families.
  • Decreases law enforcement, correctional, unemployment and drug and welfare services expenditures.