First Graduate

First Graduate's long-term, individualized approach successfully meets the needs of first-generation youth. We make a 10-year commitment to each student, starting the summer after sixth grade through college graduation.

First Graduate's effective college access and success program serves more than 200 San Francisco-based students each year. In the spring of 2011, we enrolled our 10th class of new students; our oldest students just completed the program and became the first in their families to graduate from college!

The program enrolls 25-30 rising seventh graders annually, recruited from five San Francisco public middle schools: Horace Mann, James Lick, Marina, Roosevelt (all part of SFUSD) and KIPP San Francisco Bay Academy (a public charter school). In the spring of 2011, we enrolled our 10th class of new students; our oldest students just completed the program and became the first in their families to graduate from college.

Our program model provides students with a comprehensive and complementary array of services, including: year-round academic instruction, tutoring and support; high school and college counseling; mentoring; family engagement activities; career exploration activities; and college scholarships and support. All of these services are organized via an effective case management system.

Our long-term, individualized approach successfully meets the needs of first-generation youth. To-date, 100 percent of all First Graduate high school seniors has graduated from high school and enrolled in college. They are attending schools across the nation such as San Francisco State University, Harvard, Chapman University, the University of California, Santa Cruz, and more.