Thanks to the participation of our community partners, EPACS has been able to offer our students a wealth of unique opportunities inside and outside the classroom. From providing hands-on lessons in science and theater workshops, to offering mentoring resources, these organizations have enriched the students' lives and opened the door to countless opportunities awaiting them.

Nvidia
On December 15, 500 volunteers from Nvidia came to EPACS along with their families to work on projects throughout the school. Along with the support, training, and facilitation of Rebuilding Together, the workday was an incredible success. We are extremely grateful for the contributions made by Nvidia staff and families alongside EPACS students, parents, and staff. We look forward to their continued engagement as we move forward as a school!

* A freshly painted building in school colors with 225 gallons of paint

* Two beautiful murals that represent the students culture and community

* A functional, meticulously painted multiplication chart

* 75 new windows so the students can actually see through into the hallways and doors

* A level playground that promotes safer landings when students jump off the swings

* A volleyball court that is soon to be functional

* A colorful world map that will inspire students to study abroad in college

* A garden with an outdoor kitchen, orchard, green dome and raised beds for planting that will encourage students to try organic foods

* A bag full of new supplies for each classroom and a new book for each student to take home


Rebuilding Together Peninsula
Rebuilding Together has been tremendously involved over the years with EPACS, working towards implementing large-scale improvements to our site alongside students, staff, and countless volunteers from other businesses or organizations. Rebuilding Together brings the expertise, organization, and a commitment to support organizations in need like our school. We are extremely grateful for their ongoing support, and most recently for a workday that they organized and facilitated in December where over 500 volunteers came out for an entire day to make improvements to the school.

Castilleja School
This fall, Castilleja School in Palo Alto joined up with EPACS for a wonderful partnership. The goal was to create a way for students from both schools to get to know each other, see another school, and work together on projects around EPACS. Castilleja 9th - 12th graders came to EPACS and worked with our Middle School students on all kinds of projects from organizing books in the library, to working in the garden, to painting hallways and doors, and started the process of a painting a map of the United States out in the playground area. Our younger students in grades K-4 went over to Castilleja for a day of activities, art projects, and community building hosted by Castilleja Middle School students. Castilleja also put on a book drive that yielded thousands of books which were donated to EPACS to be used in the library, in classrooms, and for students to take home and begin their own collection of books. We look forward to more connections with Castilleja students in the future!

Collective Roots Garden Project
We are fortunate to have our own organic garden on campus. The garden is managed by the Collective Roots Garden Project (CRGP). Collective Roots has developed extensive 12-week standards-based science units that are taught to our students in grades K-5. They have also put together a middle school elective class that focuses on developing and planning a salad bar program for our school cafeteria. The students learn about everything from business to nutrition through this elective class.

Junior League Character Education Program
The Junior League of Palo Alto Mid-Peninsula has sponsored our Character Education program in our middle school since 2003. Currently, 12 volunteers work directly to mentor a group of boys or girls once a week on some of the challenges EPACS students face on a daily basis as teenagers and teach them lessons about bullying, gossiping and how to solve conflicts. Many of the Junior League volunteers have worked with the same group of students for three years in a row, getting to know the students through the years and forming strong relationships.

Theatre Works
Imagine an embarrassed 4th grader turning into a Broadway star. It happens every year as our students read their poetry and show off their acting skills at our annual Pancake Breakfast. Theatre Works, a local non-profit organization that places artists at schools to teach students poetry and performance skills, teaches our 4th grade students performance poetry using a variety of theater games and memorization.


East Palo Alto Charter School depends on the support of community organizations to expand our students' learning experience outside the classroom. If your organization is interested in becoming an EPACS community partner, please contact .

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