Aspire Public Schools is a K-12 school system focused on improving public education by preparing underserved students for college, training highly effective teachers and sharing innovative best practices.
Congratulations to our 2025 scholarship recipients! Earlier this April, we honored our 27Aspire scholarship winners at Aspire’s Transforming Futures luncheon. These exceptional seniors have been awarded $100,000 in scholarships to support their post-secondary plans.
3Fulfilling Futures Scholarship Winners
10 Para la Cultura Scholarship Winners
5Rise Scholarship Winners
9Shining Star Scholarship Winners
Aspire is grateful for the generous sponsorship of our corporate partners who made this celebration possible!
The effects of recent delays in college financial aid could be felt by a vast array of students for years. We spoke with students across the country about their experiences. Here are their stories.
Instead of attending college this fall, a Massachusetts teen plans to join the Marines.
A first-generation student from Illinois hopes her restaurant job will cover college costs.
A Floridian in her 30s says she might go back to exotic dancing to afford tuition.
May 1 has long been the deadline for many students to decide where to attend college. But for applicants across the country, 2024 has been the year the systems in place for decades fell apart. While picking a college is anxiety-inducing in a normal year, the government’s botched handling of financial aid upended that decision-making process, disrupting the lives of a broad swath of American students.
The stress stems from a form called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which opens the door to government help with tuition and, many say, to a better quality of life. This year, glitches and holdups with the form kept many vulnerable people from getting across the finish line.
Historically, the application required students and their families to answer dozens of complicated questions using decades-old technology. Facing a mandate from Congress, Biden administration officials set out to fix it. But the new FAFSA was beset with issues and corrupted data, delaying aid offers for months and jeopardizing the prospects for some of the students the updates were supposed to help.
“FAFSA is the stepping stone to everything,” said Galawe Alcenet, 17, a student in South Saint Paul, Minnesota, who lost her chance at getting several private scholarships because of processing delays. Courtesy of Galawe Alcenet
Even employees in the Education Department’s Federal Student Aid office, which was charged with streamlining the form, expressed frustration with their bosses’ handling of the rollout, two agency officials not authorized to speak publicly told USA TODAY. Then, last week, seemingly capping off the fiasco, the top Biden administration official overseeing the revised process resigned from his post.
“FAFSA is the stepping stone to everything,” said Galawe Alcenet, a senior in Minnesota who lost her chance at getting several private scholarships because of the processing delays. “The biggest challenge has been the waiting.”
By Hannah Workman | October 3, 2022 Original article here.
Stockton native and veteran educator Anthony Solina has been tapped to lead Aspire Public Schools’ 16 Central Valley schools, including its 10 Stockton schools, as the organization’s new Central Valley executive director.
Solina will be responsible for the overall performance of all schools in the Central Valley region. Aspire is the largest public charter school organization in California, with over 30 schools in the Central Valley, the Bay Area and the Los Angeles regions.
“Aspire is ‘College for Certain,'” Solina said, referencing the K-12 school system’s motto. “That doesn’t mean we’re taking college ready kids to start, but it’s about creating a belief in the students early that they can go and then by high school it becomes real.”
Solina has been with Aspire for 20 years, first starting as an elementary school teacher in 2002. He was a founding teacher at two Aspire schools in Stockton: Aspire River Oaks Charter School and Aspire Langston Hughes Academy. He then segued into administration and became the founding principal of Aspire Port City Academy in 2007.
Solina said his primary goal will be the same one he has had since he first stepped foot in a classroom — to make sure every student is college and career ready by graduation.
Solina said at Aspire, students can begin taking college classes when they’re in high school as part of its early college high school program. The program gives students the opportunity to earn a minimum of 30 units or graduate with an associate’s degree.
Aspire is also looking to bring a career pathways program to its Stockton schools, Solina said.
“In Modesto, we have a health careers academy that’s partnered with Modesto Junior College and the students are on a health careers pathway,” Solina said. “They can take courses in radiology, nursing, anatomy, physiology … so we’re piloting that in Modesto and that’s been a great experience so far, but we’re thinking about in Stockton, potentially partnering with [San Joaquin] Delta College and University of the Pacific on an engineering pathway.”
According to Solina, Aspire also is considering is a teacher career pathway. He said it is his hope that this pathway would not only help students find fulfilling careers, but also address the on-going staffing and teacher shortages in San Joaquin County.
“We’re just finding it a huge problem in the pipeline,” Solina said.
A survey recently conducted by EdSource found that the Stockton Unified School District is among the districts with the most significant staffing and teacher shortages in California.
While there is not an exact launch date for the teacher career pathway program yet, Solina said there are plans to pilot the program next summer. Meanwhile, he is looking to provide more opportunities for students to gain hands-on work experience.
“The more we can get connections with local businesses and get students into places of work to learn both the work skills and the life skills, as well as the academic needs for those careers, is where we’re hoping to head to first,” he said.
Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
Congratulations to our Senior Support Scholarship winners, Arlette Campos and Kailey Martinez!
Arlette from Aspire Pacific Academy and Kailey fromAspire Richmond CaliforniaCollege Preparatory Academy will no doubt have success as they prepare for their post-secondary pathways. Both lifetime Aspire learners, these two senior scholars are prepared and eager for their next chapters. Learn more about them and their goals below.
Arlette Campos
Arlette has been with Aspire since elementary school, and during this time has learned the importance of asking questions when needed and leaning on people around her for help. She looks forward to using this skill set both to help others and to navigate college. During her time at Pacific, she took advantage of their early college program by enrolling in three college courses, including Administration of Justice, Sociology, and Psychology. Through the coursework itself and the act of balancing advanced classes, Arlette is proud to have gained experience in fostering her mental health and wellness, as well as improving her grade point average and gaining experience with college-level work.
Arlette loves learning, and as a first-generation college student, looks forward to continuing her pursuit of knowledge. Dealing with various challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic has especially fostered her desire to pursue a career that will allow her to give back to her family and broader community. She hopes to get both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree to provide financial stability and inspire her younger sisters that anything is possible with hard work. She plans to attend Los Angeles Trade-Technical College where she will explore a variety of STEM and social science courses to determine the right career path for her.
Kailey Martinez
Kailey has grown and thrived with Aspire since kindergarten. She has been a part of numerous clubs, including TechHive, through which she grew an interest in science and became fluent in data analytics, and YouthRadio, in which she examined art through digital media. She was also involved in Cal Prep’s Pride Club and student government. While in student government, Kailey suggested and implemented a middle school student government program – which had previously only included high schoolers – to help younger students feel heard and connected to their school community. A particularly life-changing opportunity outside of school occurred when Kailey was fifteen and she took care of an individual with disabilities. Over the course of a year, she had the responsibility of feeding him, teaching him how to speak, and simultaneously teaching and learning American Sign Language. Being his caretaker offered an invaluable lesson in empathy and furthered her interest in pursuing a career path in helping others.
As a first-generation college student, Kailey is especially motivated to attend and graduate from a four-year university. She will attend California State University Channel Islands, where she plans to study either counseling or nursing in pursuit of a career in the human service field. She credits her teachers and school counselors for making her feel safe and motivating her to continue and accomplish her goals and looks forward to being able to do the same for children in the future.
The Senior Support scholarship is funded by generous contributions from Aspire Regional and Home Office staff. If you’re also interested in supporting scholars like Arlette and Kailey, see how you can make an impact on our Support page.
The Aspire Shining Stars award recognizes outstanding seniors across our high schools in the Central Valley, Bay Area, and Los Angeles regions.
We are happy to announce that each award winner will receive a scholarship award to put towards their post-secondary education. This scholarship was made possible through the generosity of Richard and Theresa Crocker, to whom we are very thankful!
Our 2022 Shining Stars have demonstrated the Aspire vision of College for Certain. Learn more about their current goals and aspirations below.
To our 2022 Aspire Shining Stars, congratulations on all of your high school achievements and we wish you all the best in your post-secondary success ahead!
