El Portal’s expansion of its facilities has been met with
increased interest from the community.
Gilroy – El Portal’s expansion of its facilities has been met with increased interest from the community.
The charter high school run by the Mexican American Community Services Agency and the Gilroy Unified School District has already filled about 60 of the about 80 spots for incoming freshman this fall.
The increased enrollment at El Portal Leadership Academy is made possible in part by the ongoing construction of a classroom complex and a multipurpose building. When complete, the school will be able to accommodate 360 students – about double the current number.
“We want to enroll students that have high potential,” said Enrique Arreola, the school’s deputy director. “They may not be doing the best academically, but they’re students that have high potential and want to succeed. What they need is a little bit more resources (and) smaller class size.”
The typical student is first-generation American, might have trouble with English or have learned English as a second language, and is looking for a smaller alternative to the 2,400-student Gilroy High School, he said.
El Portal opened its doors in 2002, occupying a building to the north of South Valley Middle School off Swanston Lane. The first class of 53 students graduated in 2005 and about 40 more students moved on to college and work last June.
The recent graduations have helped establish the school and the new construction projects increase people’s sense of the institution having permanence, said Xavier Campos, the agency’s chief operations officer.
These are important qualities for an educational institution, especially in an age where students are feeling increasingly distant from their school, Arreola said.
Despite the building efforts and increased enrollment, agency officials want the school to retain its community feel and to that end keep classes capped at 22 students or less per teacher.
As officials look to recruit students for the remaining 20 spots, they are stressing that the school is not a place for kids that cannot make it in Gilroy High School, but rather a place students choose to attend because they want greater teacher and peer interaction.
“We’re looking to give them that extra support,” Arreola said.
