Summer Math & Science Honors Academy
LPFI’s Summer Math and Science Honors (SMASH) Academy works with high achieving, low-income high-school students of color from the Bay Area who are passionate about math and science. We provide them with rigorous courses that will prepare them to excel in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) fields -- our goal is to help these studemts be admitted to top-tier colleges to focus on these fields. We help scholars achieve success in high school now and prepare them for future achievement in higher education.
The SMASH Academy components include a five-week residential, rigorous academic program on the UC Berkeley campus in the summer, as well as academic-year programming to keep students engaged and on track for academic success. All of our biology, chemistry, physics, math and English classes are taught by experienced high school teachers who also benefit from teaching in this highly engaged environment.
In addition to having a college experience by living on campus, students also conduct hands-on lab experiments, meet accomplished professional role-models, build cultural capital through field trips, and build a supportive community of other scholars. These experiences are conspicuously unavailable to our students at their under-resourced schools.
A unique element of our program is the deep involvement with parents, as more than 85% of student parents attend workshops on how to support their young scholars.
Our most impressive statistic however is that 100% of SMASH graduates are now attending college.
Our scholars are attending: Cal State East Bay, Cal State Long Beach, College of San Mateo, Columbia University, Diablo Valley College, Middlebury College, Morehouse University, Pomona College, San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, Santa Clara University, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, UC Merced, UC Santa Cruz, and University of Southern California.
