How ARISE Was Created:
On the train ride in New York City over the Thanksgiving holiday in 2003, ARISE co-founder and principal, Laura Flaxman, had a conversation with a former student of hers who was then a college student on the east coast. This young man, David, had also been a graduate of the Mills College Upward Bound program. Laura and David were catching up on some of David's former classmates and the stories of their varying levels of success in college and dissecting why David was succeeding while some of his friends weren't. David credited his experiences at Life Academy and Upward Bound, as well as the role model that he found in ARISE co-founder and principal, Romeo Garcia, with his achievement. He also talked about how participating in various experiences away from home while he was still in high school impacted his future. Out of this conversation, ARISE was born, including the idea of requiring a "cultural immersion" experience. Laura immediately thought that it would be great to start a school with Romeo, in partnership with the Mills TRIO programs, and a few months later, Romeo came on board. Their next step was to ask OCO leader Emma Paulino if she was interested in getting involved in starting a high school, bringing the parent perspective on board, as well as her experience co-founding and working with ASCEND. From this point on, the team continued to grow and as they say, the rest is history!
ARISE would also like to give a special thanks to the following people and organizations:
Guadalupe Barrera - ARISE Parent
Eileen Barrera - ARISE Student
Leslie Barrera – High School Student
Kristen Chase – Future College Student
Mary Franklin – Community Member
Sharonda Green - ARISE Parent
Leah Herrera – Mills College Student
Josue Hernandez – High School Student
Julia Hollinger – Teacher
Jean Johnson – Community Member
Brittney Johnson – Community Member
Tonnesha Pace - ARISE Parent
Landesha Pace - ARISE Student
Edgardo Paulino – Community Member
California Charter School Association
California Department of Education
Coalition of Essential Schools
Mills College
Oakland Community Organizations
Oakland Unified School District
Wildwood School
