In September 2006, the Marc and Eva Stern Math and Science School (Stern MASS) opened to serve about 200 9th grade students from the East Los Angeles community. Stern MASS is a unique public charter high school collaboration between the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools (a charter management organization) and California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA). The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) granted our charter and is responsible for holding our school accountable for its performance.

Stern MASS is designed to prepare students from East Los Angeles to be successful in four-year colleges and to be able to major in math/science/engineering. Stern MASS provides a small, personalized learning environment for students that I believe is more effective in preparing students for higher education. Our collaboration with CSULA is advantageous because it provides additional resources for our students and teachers.

Stern MASS students have already begun to demonstrate their academic performance; student performance on California Standards Tests in 2007 earned our school an Academic Performance Index score of 718—making Stern MASS one of the highest performing open enrollment high schools in the entire Los Angeles Unified School District. I am proud of our school’s accomplishments, and we have only begun to establish a tradition of rigor and excellence at Stern MASS.

Sincerely,
Derrick Chau, Ph.D.
Principal