By Greg Mellen

The students in the AVID program at San Clemente High come from different backgrounds, but most share the trait of coming from families without an education of their own. These students carry the ambition and the work ethic needed to succeed and need only the right kind of guidance, and the occasional nudge to stay on track.

Many are first generation students who came into school without a road map to post secondary academics, much less an understanding of its meaning and importance.

Those who graduate will likely be the first in their families to advance beyond high school and be able to contemplate the kinds of careers to which advanced studies can lead. They will receive the financial support they need to make their dreams come true.

These are the students for whom AVID, Advancement Via Individual Determination, was built.

Although the nonprofit educational organization describes itself as being for all, it is particularly for those students who lack the support and foundations needed to thrive academically, and to take that learning to the next level.

The school itself is taking the program to the next level, and has earned for the first time the prestigious role of becoming an AVID National Demonstration School — the first in the district and the only school in South Orange County to do so.

This year, San Clemente High enrolled 305 students in its AVID program, virtually all of whom will advance to college. For most, their goals and futures were inconceivable before AVID.

They are students like:

• Sophia, an undocumented student whose parents fled from poverty and violence in Mexico.
• Gil Tapia, whose father is in prison and who recently was able to reunite with his mother, after he and his siblings spent a short time in foster care before being rescued and raised by an uncle.
• Abby Perez, laid low by the educational challenge of school during the pandemic, who needed to remediate four classes to avoid flunking out of school.
• Scarlet Figueroa, who struggled through a period of homelessness with her family.

“It gave me hope,” said Sophia, a senior who joined AVID as a sixth grader at Shorecliffs Middle School and has been a devoted member ever since. “I couldn’t imagine going to college. AVID gave me the push to keep trying. They put me on the track.”

She is waiting to hear from UC Berkeley, where she hopes to study child psychology, although she has already been accepted to a number of four-year universities.

“I didn’t know anything about college. The mentors helped me learn my abilities,” said Figueroa, who plans to apply those skills in forensic psychology, either at Cal or Chapman University.

Perez said she was recruited into AVID as a sophomore when administrators observed her work ethic in redeeming her failing grades while becoming an A and B student in her regular course load.

“I had never thought of going to college,” said the daughter of immigrant parents.

Tapia said he grew up in an abusive household before being removed by the state along with his siblings. While Tapia was at Vista Del Mar Middle School, he said his history teacher saw something special and guided him toward AVID and “helped me grow as an individual.”

Like many athletes, Tapia, a soccer player, had more belief in his physical skills than his intellect. And, after suffering a serious knee injury this year, learned how perilous sports can be as a career path. Because of AVID, he can fall back on learning while still pursuing sports.

With the encouragement of his AVID instructor, Tapia overcame his lack of academic confidence and entered AP classes, which he feared would be beyond him. This year he is earning As and Bs in AP Statistics.

Tapia still plans to pursue soccer, although the injury wiped out his chances at a scholarship in the sport. As a result, he plans to attend Concordia University, with a backup plan of Saddleback College, while he rehabs the injury, and intends to go on to earn an advanced degree at USC.

Historic milestone

San Clemente High has had AVID programming for more than 20 years, but this year for the first time became recognized for its successes by being named as one of 203 National Demonstration Schools by the organization. San Clemente High is also the first school in the Capistrano Unified School District and only school in South Orange County to earn the designation.

Although AVID has been around nationally for more than 40 years and can be found in more than 2,100 schools in California and 8,000 nationally, becoming a National Demonstration School is next level.

According to AVID, Demonstration Schools undergo “a rigorous validation process and are required to be revalidated every few years to ensure high levels of implementation.”

Running herd on the program at San Clemente High is AVID Coordinator Erin Dollar, who took on the program 13 years ago as the lone AVID teacher with the intent of spending only four years at the helm.

Instead she has become the driving force of the college preparation program and nationally recognized for her work. The initial program class sizes were 40 or fewer, with a total program size of under 150, Dollar says, and the program has grown steadily to current levels and expects to continue expanding.

During Dollar’s tenure, more than 40 percent of the school staff has been AVID-trained and classes throughout the school implement aspects of AVID strategies, which incorporate student-teacher relationships, mentoring and tutoring, community service, self-reliance, and leadership.

Of the seniors from the AVID program at San Clemente High this year, all are expected to graduate, and already have been accepted to at least three schools each.

Statewide, 100 percent of AVID seniors graduated last year, with a 77 percent college acceptance rate.

In 2023, San Clemente AVID students were collectively offered more than $12 million in post-secondary scholarships and aid.

“This is the premier program in the county for students who want to meet all the necessary goals to enter a four-year school,” said SCHS Principal Christopher Carter.

More than 10 percent of San Clemente’s students are enrolled in AVID classes. Many came from AVID programs available in middle school and continue into high school. AVID is a college prep elective and available for all four years with the same teacher and students generally staying together. This helps the teachers and students develop strong bonds.

“I would say she’s like my mother outside of school,” senior Rebeca Ortega said of her AVID instructor. “They are like my second family.”

Although most of the students are “first-generation” and many come from under-educated families, AVID is not just for them.

“The strategies are for all,” said Cuco Gracian, the Executive Director of Cultural Proficiency, Equity, Access, and Social Emotional Learning for the District.

AVID teaches aspects such as time management, note taking, course selection, and organization, as well as all aspects of college readiness and preparation, including applications, financial aid, and the college essay.

The school recently held a ceremony to unfurl the banner that goes with the honor of being a Demonstration School. More important than the swag, however, Dollar said San Clemente High can now teach and guide other schools that seek to implement or improve their AVID programs.

“Instead of hundreds, we can now affect thousands,” she said.

When asked what has kept her going in AVID long beyond her initial commitment, Dollar turned and swept her hand motioning to the AVID students as they laughed, chatted, and munched on cake and cookies.

“It’s their stories,” she said.

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