Source: Daily Breeze
Jaws dropped and tears rolled down parents’ faces, officials said, after learning that their students who graduate from this local high school now have a streamlined pathway to success — through the promised spot at a local university.
The Hawthorne School District and Cal State Dominguez Hills recently inked an agreement to guarantee admission for graduates of the Hawthorne Math and Science Academy, the district’s only high school.
Students admitted through the partnership, called the Aviator-Toro Alliance, will also automatically enter the college campus studying their first-choice major.
Class of 2026 graduates at HMSA will be the first to get the opportunity.
It’ll take some weight off of students during their college application processes, officials said, and show them that more doors are open than they may have imagined for anything they want to pursue post-high school.
Andre Castillo, a senior at Hawthorne Math and Science Academy, said he’s excited about the prospect of attending Cal State Dominguez Hills next year.
“It brought a great opportunity,” Castillo said, “espeically since I felt overwhelmed over the applications, and it’s competitive out there.”
The program won’t only help charge his future, Castillo, 17, added, but could also impact his family.
“I could be a first generation college applicant and inspire my sister to apply as well,” he said.
“I would have helped her anyway,” Castillo added of his sister, who will enter HMSA as a freshman next school year, “but now that I have that knowledge, I can make it easier for her than it was for me.”
He also applied to schools like Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Northridge and San Diego State University, but made CSUDH his first choice once he learned that he has automatic entry into his first-choice major there, Castillo added. He plans to study either mechanical engineering or computer science.
“I not only have guaranteed admission,” Castillo said, “but I can guarantee my first career choice and be the first to finish (college in my family).”
The district’s board of directors approved the agreement at a September meeting, and administrators announced it to parents at a recent back-to-school night. It took about six months to get the program ready to go, said Kamal Hamdan, director of CSUDH’s Center for Innovation in STEM Education and faculty representative for the university’s board of directors.
Hawthorne School District is a small system of public schools, with one preschool, seven elementary schools, three middle schools and one high school, Hawthorne Math and Science Academy. With a total student body of 573, there are 124 students in the current senior class at the high school, principal Anakonia Matsumoto said.
Other public schools in Hawthorne, like Hawthorne High School, are nested in the Centinela Valley Unified School District.
Some elements are still being squared away to fully implement the new program, Hawthorne School District Superintendent Brian Markarian said, as administrators and staff are working to have students in the next graduating class step onto the CSUDH campus.
Cal State Dominguez Hills is hiring a dedicated operator to oversee the implementation and execution of the program, Hamdan said, and staff on both ends of the partnership will have specific duties to carry out the agreement.
“We’re investing in every way to make sure this agreement is executed to its fullest,” Hamdan said.
HMSA has hired a full-time college advisor to help students navigate finances and guide them through applying for grants, scholarships and other opportunities.
They’re also planning a series of workshops about financial aid and college readiness, Markarian said, teaching students and families what it takes to be eligible for a four-year university and how to navigate the environment once on campus.
It’s not just about getting them to college, Markarian said, but supporting them through it.
Stakeholders from the two institutions will meet regularly to ensure the program’s continued efficacy.
The agreement “forces both partners to meet coinsistently to make sure we’re executing what we promised,” Hamdan said, and that “the agreement lives on for generations to come.”
The program is similar to the Long Beach College Promise, which has, since 2008, provided academically eligible Long Beach Unified School District graduates with guaranteed admission to Cal State Long Beach. Through that program, local graduates who choose to study at Long Beach City College can also take a year’s worth of classes without having to pay tuition.
What drove the partnership, Hamdan said, is the united vision for student succes and empowerment of the Hawthorne community between the district and the university.
“CSUDH serves the same community we do,” Markarian said. “We both have a vested interest in supporting our kids and community; there’s a real sense of pride and ownership among students you don’t feel (that at) other places.”
Hamdan said that there’s a similar atmosphere at Cal State Dominguez Hills that students will seamlessly transition into.
“Community is what we have in common,” Hamdan said. “(At HMSA) you’re coming to a special community; when they come to our university, we want them to feel the same way.”
Dominguez Hills’ commitment to educational equity, he added, makes it the perfect place to prioritize students at the small high school.
“This partnership sends a clear message that the future of students matter,” Hamdan said, “and they know higher education is attainable.”
The partnership, he added, is about more than just easy college admission. It’s not that they wouldn’t be able to get in without the leg up, but it gives them an option to fall back on if other schools at the top of their list fall through — or they just don’t have the time to apply to several schools.
“It’s not (just) about admitting students, because they can apply and get admitted on their own,” Hamdan said. “This is about us waiting for them with open arms for them to come to our university, (while) also leading and guiding them with proactive support.”
HMSA senior Eden Kassa said that even if CSUDH is not a student’s first choice, it’s nice to have as a safety school, especially living locally to avoid dorm costs.
Many students prefer to go to a four-year university, but get stuck believing that a community college is their only and best choice at higher education. The opportunity for guaranteed admission, Kassa said, can completely change that narrative. She added that some of her peers are excited that they will get in by meeting the A-G college admission requirements, even if their grades over their high school career were not the highest.
“I’m first-gen, so my parents were excited,” Kassa said. “For seniors, there’s a lot of pressure in applying to college; when I heard I can have a first slot with the first major of my choice, that has taken a lot of pressure off.”
The partnership is important because a lot of kids are struggling financially and can’t afford to go to bigger, four-year institutions on their own, said Kassa, who has attended HSD schools since kindergarten.
Kassa’s dream school is USC, she said, but it’s expensive right now, and she looks forward to pursuing her goals of becoming a diplomat at CSUDH through the university’s political science and international relations programs.
During a visit to the HMSA campus last week, Hamdan said, he was overwhelmed with joy and pride to meet students who were excited to attend CSUDH next fall. He also told students and administrators that he wanted to expedite admission for up to 25 seniors who know they want to attend the college next year.
“This open doors for them to have guaranteed admission, allows them to explore options, have confidence and know the path to their future is paved,” Markarian said, “if that’s the way they want to go.”
That pre-laid pavement doesn’t mean CSUDH is the only solid option for these students, he added, but lets them know that any college of a student’s choice can be a reality.
After the September announcement, Matsumoto said, parents were calling the school to verify the news — in disbelief about the opportunity.
“We’re a small school with heart,” Matsumoto said, “and our schools have big dreams.”
“I got to witness first hand when we delievered the news how life changing” it would be for some families, Matsumoto said. “I had parents calling asking, ‘Is it real?’
“This is going to get them not just to college, but to a passion-driven career,” she added. “Cal State Dominguez Hills says you’ve earned it, we want you and you belong.”
Sophia Morris, sophomore English teacher at HMSA, said that for some, the opportunity opens their eyes to the fact that they can actually explore their passions and achieve them. It gives students fuel to work harder in school now, she added, because they know there’s much more beyond the current classroom to look forward to in their academic futures and careers.
“Some of these kids, because they may come from families who haven’t attended college, a lot of them opt for El Camino (College) and other community colleges,” Morris said. “They maybe have anxiety about their grades and being able to get into a four-year college. Now (that) they know they have an option, they don’t slack because they know they can reach that goal.”
Students will see that they deserve acceptance without having to go the extra mile, she added.
“It offers security,” she added. “It’s not (a matter of), ‘Am I going to be accepted?’ I think it’ll give them more faith in themselves, thinking, ‘It’s not a question; I am going to college.’”
Children in more affluent communities with different life circumstances often have guarantees for their next academic steps, Markarian said, whether through a formal partnership like this one or not.
“Our kids,” he said, “may not always have pathways to fall back on.”
For some Hawthorne students, Markarian added, immigration enforcement, having to care for younger siblings due to parents’ overwheling work schedules and more add to their workloads, sometimes leaving goals of higher learning on the backburner.
The guaranteed admission to CSUDH, he said, can help take a load off of their plates.
“Our kids have risen above those” things, Markarian said. “It’s an extra weight for our kids to have to carry; now, there’s something guaranteed here.”
HMSA also has a dual enrollment program with El Camino College for high school students to earn college credits, Matsumoto said, and is exploring a similar program with CSUDH.
Hawthorne School District board member Eugene Krank said that he envisions an educational ecosystem forming through the partnership, strengthening the contagious culture of academic competiton that he said buzzes at the district’s schools.
“Dominguez Hills is going to be cloned into HSD,” Krank said, “with all our kids and faculty transitioning there.”
He sees more programs forming through the partnership that could help district students as young as third grade develop their talents, Krank added, guiding them all the way through HMSA and CSUDH, or wherever they choose to go.
Krank, who has daughters attending HSD schools, said that one of his girls is already determined to go to HMSA. Having a local university at students’ fingertips, he added, is also a relief for parents with first-generation students who are wary of sending their child too far away for school.
“The culture and sense of familiarity is important for parents,” Krank said. “You’re going to go to a place with more like-minded people; not just because it’s local, but the culture is familiar.”
