COLLEGE TRACK EAST PALO ALTO NEWSLETTER

April 12, 2024

Welcome to College Track, East Palo Alto's (CTEPA) quarterly newsletter where we highlight the incredible work of our CTEPA community and scholars as well as share important site specific information. Thank you for your continued support of and partnership with CTEPA!

Gratitude for Our Director of Program

Dear College Track Community! My name is June Afshar, and I am the Executive Site Director at CT EPA. It has been such a joy to be back on site after being out on maternity leave for almost 4 months. During my time away, the team doubled in size, we onboarded a brand new cohort of scholars, and prepared to roll out our 10 year integrated program model! Needless to say, the team and site has been BUSY! I wanted to express my deep gratitude to Dr. E (Director of Program) who graciously stepped up in a big way to ensure all of our scholars and staff were supported, regardless of what was thrown their way. I know that many of you, particularly our c/o 2024 scholars felt their relentless passion and unwavering support as you navigated the fall semester. Thank you, Dr. E for embodying all of our core values (Joy, Passion, Excellence, Authenticity and Commitment) and for being a core member of our CTEPA community! I look forward to being in community with each of you as we finish the quarter, together.

Launching our New 10-year Integrated Program


The start of Quarter 3 has brought an exciting time for our community of scholars as we have launched our brand new programming model. Our 9th grade scholars have been taking full advantage of their time at College Track through their Bytes and LEAD workshops. In their Bytes workshop, scholars have been developing apps that address societal challenges that are important to them while exploring their identities as leaders in their LEAD workshops. Our 10th grade scholars have been hard at work during their LEAD workshop engaging in personal reflection and research on colleges they are interested in potentially applying to when their time comes. During 10th grade learning lab, our sophomore scholars have been developing their social emotional skills through workshops that have focused on stress management, study skills, and time management. Our 11th grade scholars have continued to curate their list of colleges and universities in preparation for their senior year in their LEAD workshops. Our graduating seniors, have been hard at work securing scholarships and waiting for admissions decisions to arrive!

Meet the EPA Team

June Afshar (she/her)

Executive Site Director

(650) 271 - 9279

Email

Dr. E (they/them)

Director of Program

(669) 244 - 2550

Email

Viri Meraz (she/her)

Operations Manager

(650) 242 - 5293

Email

Vanessa Murillo (she/her)

Student Recruitment Specialist

(650) 650 - 4511

Email

Kevin Pham (he/his)

Academic Program Manager

(341) 209 - 0977

Email

Kiara Reece (she/her)

College Counselor

(650) 564 - 7467

Email


Quincy Cheung (he/his)

College Counselor

(408) 320 - 9673

Email

Stella Kailahi (she/her)

Sr. Leadership Coach

(269) 430 - 3101

Email

Yasmine Naeata (she/her)

9th Grade Leadership Coach

(650) 484 - 3513

Email

Alonzo Gibbs (he/his)

11th Grade Leadership Coach

(619) 832 - 0642

Email

Karely Nunez (she/her)

IT/Program Coordinator

(650) 257 - 0394

Email

Updates for our Sophomores and Juniors!!

New Staff Intro's

Vanessa Murillo (she/her)


Vanessa joined the team in January 2024 as our Student Recruitment Specialist. Vanessa is a CT EPA alumna and is excited to be working with first generation college students and guiding them to resources to help them succeed!


Click to read more about Vanessa!

Quincy Cheung (he/his)


Quincy joined the team in March 2024 a College Counselor. Quincy has worked as a high school teacher before, so Quincy really likes getting to know students and helping families reach their goals!


Click to read more about Quincy!

Congratulations Basilio!

Congratulations Daniela!

We have officially concluded our recruitment for the Class of 2027, and we are thrilled to welcome a total of 39 freshman scholars to the CT EPA community! We will now begin outreach to current 8th graders (class of 2028) and will be hosting our Spring Showcase & Community BBQ on Friday, May 17th. More info to come!


If you are interested we welcome you to join us on this day! Please feel free to submit and/or share our interest form to future CT scholars for more information!


INTEREST FORM

Reminders and RSVP links for fun hour Fridays will be emailed and texted to all scholars. Keep an eye out for out next fun event!

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