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Chris Bischof's Eastside Prep once had no ceilings, walls or desks; now it boasts a cluster of modular buildings plus science and computer labs and a gym.

Bischof extends the personal attention that is Eastside's hallmark.

A trio of Eastside students gets some input from Principal Bischof.

Photographs by Susan Bradley and Barbara Ries

A MOVEABLE FEAST
Getting started at Eastside "was a leap of faith for the students as much as for me," Bischof says. With no accreditation and no track record to reflect on, students in the inaugural class had scant assurance the school would prepare them adequately for college or even yield them a high school diploma. There were no guarantees the school would be there until they graduated. Sometimes they didn't know where it would be the next week, for in the first year Eastside had no home, but drifted from borrowed space to borrowed space.

"We had eight students, and there were three faculty members paid," Bischof says. "Beyond that we had zero resources. Other schools gave us textbooks. Paper and pens and pencils were donated. It was kind of a mobile one-room schoolhouse. When friends asked where they went to school, our students would say, 'Eastside.' Their friends would ask, 'Where's that?' and they would say, 'Well, last week it was over on Cooley Avenue, and this week it's on University.' We were nomads."

Before long, a group of individuals agreed to donate a campus. After scouring East Palo Alto for an appropriate site, Bischof settled on a 1.6-acre parcel containing 11 abandoned greenhouses and a dilapidated bungalow occupied by 13 people. "All glass and weeds" is how he describes the property. The house was transformed into administrative and teaching space, and a contractor volunteered his services to demolish the greenhouses and erect two prefabricated classrooms.

Today, the four-year-old private school has seven structures, including the bungalow, several more modular units, a science laboratory and an all-purpose building that contains a $2 million gymnasium. It also has a winning basketball record (22-7) and a faculty and staff of 24. With a $13,000 per-pupil annual cost, it serves 85 students ranging from sixth through 12th grades, all on full scholarship. Its computer lab, outfitted through the generosity of Hewlett-Packard, is open seven days a week. Its array of extra- curricular activities includes a junior chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.

UPWARD BOUND
Most exciting is the meteoric growth not of the school, but of the students. Every member of the pioneering Class of 2000, which graduated last spring, now attends a four-year college. One boy is at Utah State University; sadly, his twin brother, who opted to stay in the public schools, dropped out by ninth grade. Another student went from Eastside to the Ivy League, enrolling at the University of Pennsylvania. A third studies engineering at Stanford; recently, he bicycled proudly back to East Palo Alto to show Bischof a B+ grade on his first college paper. "Universally, they report back that they are finding themselves well-prepared to do college work," Bischof says.

The success has not been without cost to Bischof, who is the school's principal. Brought up comfortably as the stepson of a Palo Alto research chemist, he now lives sparsely in a small house on the campus, where he works long hours, sometimes seven days a week. He is one of few whites in the community. A single man, he confesses running the school has made it difficult for him to have a normal social or family life.

"His level of dedication is staggering," one faculty member told the Palo Alto Daily News.

Still, his sacrifices have brought their rewards. Media ranging from local newspapers to Internet magazines have tooted Eastside's horn, and the result has been an out- pouring of individual, foundation and corporate assistance.

"A lot of people in the Bay Area," Bischof explains, "are really concerned about the unbelievable disparity between opportunities for kids in this community and opportunities for kids in the surrounding communities. Once people have a chance to come out and see the school, they usually want to support it."

BUILDING A FUTURE
Today Eastside, which anticipates becoming accredited this year, has more than 40 regular volunteers, an $11 million endowment and a dedicated board of directors. With plans ahead for a capital campaign, it will soon break ground for a permanent building on a tract of several acres it has acquired adjacent to the present campus.

As word spreads, more students seek to enter Eastside, emboldened by the newfound possibility of preparing for college within their home community.

Bischof admits there's a fine line to be walked. On the one hand, he feels responsible to meet the needs of as many students as he can. On the other hand, he believes the school's success with its very needy population has been the outgrowth of its intimacy of scale and intense personal attention to each student's needs.

"We feel quite confident now," he says, "that we can serve 20 students in each of seven grades without jeopardizing the quality of the education we provide, so our first goal is to be at 140 students by fall 2003. If we decide to take the next step, we will add a section at each grade level, bringing the enrollment to 280. We have the room to build a 400-student campus, but we are not yet committed to expanding that much."

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© Phillips Academy, 2001