“I don’t know what the Ravenswood district experience is like because I didn’t go through the Ravenswood schools.” “But my mother grew up here in East Palo Alto and she went through the Ravenswood district. I think she just thought, ‘Let’s try out the VTP program — that sounds like a good opportunity for you.’” Martinez’s mother now works for the Ravenswood district as a parent coordinator. Her father continues his longtime job with a Newark engineering company. Martinez’s brother and sister followed her most of the way through the Tinsley program, completing Duveneck and Jordan Middle School. But when their parents felt they needed a smaller environment, they left Paly and transferred to East Palo Alto Academy, a charter high school operated by the Stanford University School of
Education, from which they graduated. “We’re all grown now — in our 20s — and my mother is able to work full-time and not have to worry about us,” Martinez said. Unlike most Tinsley kids, who ride a school bus across the freeway each morning, Martinez typically was driven to and from school by her parents. Her mother didn’t work during after-school hours, allowing Martinez and her siblings to play AYSO soccer and participate in activities such as Girl Scouts and, for Laura Martinez, Paly badminton. She also worked as a volunteer at the East Palo Alto library. She got extra support from nonprofit organizations that aim to boost opportunities for low-income kids: the East Palo
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‘Any way we can provide more opportunities, with the Tinsley program or charter schools, I’m in support of providing families with those options.’
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Former students Laura Martinez and Rachel Knowles look back on transfer program
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—LAURA MARTINEZ, MAYOR, EAST PALO ALTO
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Top: East Palo Alto Mayor Laura Martinez, middle, listens to public comments during a City Council meeting along with council members Ruben Abrica, left, and Carlos Romero, right. Martinez, an East Palo Alto native, is also a Palo Alto High School graduate through the Tinsley program. Left: Martinez checks in with students and teachers during a brainstorming exercise at the afterschool program of the East Palo Alto Phoenix Academy.
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