KPIX Celebrates 10 Years Of Profiling Bay Area Jefferson Award Winners

EAST PALO ALTO (KPIX 5) It's now been ten years that KPIX 5 has been profiling Bay Area Jefferson Award winners -- stories on the quiet heroes who show one person can make a difference in our community.

Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto is home of Principal Chris Bischof. A lot has changed in the ten years since he won the first Jefferson Award we profiled in the Bay Area. But one thing's stayed the same: every single Eastside graduate makes it to a four-year college.

In 1996, East Palo Alto didn't even have a high school, so Bischof co-founded Eastside as a private college prep school for sixth through twelfth grade. His first class convened at a park bench.

When we met him in 2005, there were 100 students. Today the number has tripled. Each gets a scholarship. There are nearly 500 alumni, most of whom are their family's first college graduate.

"It's been exciting to see, but once you see it, you still have to pinch yourself a little bit," Bischof told us.

When we first profiled Bischof a decade ago, the school was using portable classrooms. Since then, they've raised $18 million to build a new campus. One of the highlights is a theater, the only one in East Palo Alto. It's open to other community youth groups outside the school.

Another big difference: about 100 students now live at the school, along with 10 faculty members. Dormitories offer a supportive place to live and study. Bischof himself still lives on campus.

"Many of our students see our school not as Eastside School, but the Eastside family," he explained.

And the family focus has expanded. The goal: not only get kids to college, but make sure they succeed once they get there, and beyond.

Co-founder and Vice Principal Helen Kim says Bischof leads the way.

"With all the progress that we've made, and successes of all the graduating classes that we've had, he always has a sense of we can do better," Kim said.

One new thing they're doing is having alumni serve as mentors. Franklin Matthews is an Eastside graduate who's come full circle.

"I grew up around drugs, gangs, a lot of violence," Matthews remembered.

But Bischof helped him fulfill his goal to become the first in his family to graduate from college.

"I can call him at any moment, it could be 3 o'clock in the morning, it could be an email exchange," Franklin said. "He's always been there for me since day one."

When we first met Matthews in 2005, he was attending Sonoma State. He's now head coach of girls' basketball at Woodside Priory. His wife is Eastside's weekend dorm supervisor, so they live on campus. Matthews himself, now a role model.

"The biggest thing I've learned from Chris is giving back," he added.

"This campus that you see is a dream come true," Bischof said.

He's learned what can happen when you start small, but dream big.