Generation 1st Degree Pico Rivera

Dear Pico Rivera Community, The G1DPR's mission has been to provide support services for students at El Rancho High School with the goal to get a college degree in every Pico Rivera home. Understanding the needs of the future and the need for our students to be competitive to get into college and career, we provided seven different university-focused preparation programs, hosted town halls, held summer boot camps, sponsored college campus tours, held college application revie...ws, financial aid workshops and provide scholarships! Our self-review demonstrated our success with 95% of our students continuing onto a four-year university. Those universities include, but are not limited to, MIT, USC, UCSB, UCI, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Stanford and Yale. There is a lot to be proud of! However, over the last few years, there has been a substantial amount of change that has caused great concern for the sustainability of Generation 1st Degree - Pico Rivera at El Rancho. We have not been provided support as we had in the past, simple things like having a door unlocked to use a room, or a bathroom available during our summer boot camps. Most things we were able to work around and navigate other options. But I was gravely concerned this year when the high school principal asked us not to provide our yearly Northern California College tour for students. And earlier we were told by a board member that our goals did not align with the district. I'd like to make clear that our goal has always been to get more El Rancho students to obtain a college degree. It is for these reasons and more that I have decided to end our programs at El Rancho and within the district. The scholarships for El Rancho High School seniors will remain in perpetuity, as I funded the endowment through the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF). This is not a decision I came to easily, as I have a long personal history with the El Rancho family, but as I look towards the future, there is an immense amount of uncertainty within the district which makes it very difficult for any organization to operate efficiently. Since our inception, this will be the fifth superintendent, the fifth high school principal, third college and career counselor, a still yet to be filled Dean of Counseling and a mass rotation of board members .... All the while with no educational strategic plan and no data accountability. I realize there is a time when change can be good. The time is now for G1DPR and perhaps the district as well. We will continue to offer our programs to a broader audience under The Gilbert & Jacki Cisneros Foundation, and will always continue to include the students of my beloved Pico Rivera. Sincerely, Jacki Cisneros

SCHOLARSHIP ALERT! The Gates Scholarship is a highly selective, full scholarship for exceptional, Pell-eligible, minority, high school seniors Apply by mid-September: https://www.thegatesscholarship.org/scholarship

COLLEGE GRADS! You've done all of the hard work and succeeded, but now you need some motivation. Check out this article from The Muse: https://www.themuse.com//12-pieces-of-advice-for-new-grads

Congratulations to G1DPR Alumna Biane Arias for graduating from UC Riverside! We are so, so proud and can't wait to see how far you will go!

Class of 2019, we you!! #Classof2019 #Graduates