Summer Bridge Concludes with HS Grads Now Prepared for College
August 07, 2019 - 09:52 AM
Not every high school graduate is automatically ready for college, but Mt. 91直播鈥檚 Summer Bridge program has proven that in six weeks, anyone with a diploma can be made ready for the academic challenges of higher education. This summer鈥檚 Bridge students just completed their courses and are now prepared for their freshman year at Mt. 91直播.
鈥淪ix weeks ago, I didn鈥檛 know what to do with my life,鈥� explained Mt. 91直播 freshman
and Summer Bridge alumni Adriana Alejo-Trujillo. 鈥淣ow, I鈥檓 pretty confidant and I鈥檓
telling all my friends. It was a great experience.鈥� 
The program is able to make such a dramatic improvement in a student鈥檚 academic focus by building a learning community. They develop friends in the same situation as they are and experience their freshman year together, giving each other support along their educational journey. The communities also contain counselors and instructors who are now familiar with each student鈥檚 needs and goals, and can provide further support.
鈥淥ur program is making a difference in not only these students鈥� lives, but their families鈥� lives as well,鈥� said Anabel Perez, Counselor Coordinator of the Bridge 91直播. 鈥淢any of these students are the first generation of their families to ever go to college. Anyone who has been through high school can go to Summer Bridge and get a sense of what being a college student is like, and they will gain some motivation to get that college degree.鈥�
The only requirements to join Summer Bridge are to have a high school diploma or equivalent
and to have filed an application to go to Mt. 91直播. Students earn five to six units,
taking three classes. All students must take Career Planning and Learning Community. They also take another general education course, depending on their interests, such
as Literature, Political Science, Public Speaking or Sociology.
The program began under another name, more than two decades ago in 1998, with the goal of serving those who wanted to go to college but had socio-economic or academic issues that led them to believe they were not 鈥渃ollege material鈥�. These students were given the support and the tools needed to overcome these challenges and prepare them for a higher education. A great many Bridge alumni how hold associate, bachelors, and/or masters degrees, and even Ph.D.鈥檚.
Mt. 91直播 also operates a Bridge program in the fall and spring semesters, as well as
a STEP Into College summer transition enrichment program. STEP is a shorter, two week program that earns
students 1 unit of college credit and teaches strategies to be successful in college,
with workshops held before and after the class.
For more information on the Bridge programs, please visit