El Cerrito High Parent -- Sasa T.

I always wanted to write to share with other people how thankful I am for the SEAD (Summer Enrichment at Dartmouth) program that the school district provided to my daughter. Because of my limited English, it took me a long time to get this done.

As a parent, I’ve always had a dream that my daughter will have a chance to go the top colleges she likes. So, when my friends told me there are no good high schools in WCCUSD and if I want my daughter to go to the top colleges, I should have my daughter move to Albany or Piedmont. What can I do? Are there any good schools in our district? Yes, a while after, I found the answers in El Cerrito High School and the SEAD program. There are very good and dedicated teachers in our district. My daughter was enrolled in El Cerrito High in 2005 and had the opportunity to join the SEAD program for three years since 2006. The program gave her a chance to go to one of the Ivy Leagues schools, Dartmouth College, for the last three years – she learns and xperiences what college is about, and has the opportunity to talk to the college faculty, staff, intern. She also had guidance on how to apply for colleges. This program is a totally new world to my daughter and opens up her eyes and mind, as well as changing her life. As a parent I can see the difference my daughter was before and is now. She has definitely benefited from the SEAD program and her result speaks for it. SEAD not only taught her academically, also helped her with her personal growth. Jennifer is a very strong person. She doesn’t easily show her emotions. She doesn’t feel any anything while I am sniffling when watching a sad movie together. However, she cries every time she returns from SEAD. She always misses the Dartmouth people very much. “You don’t understand how nice and helpful those people are, you don’t understand my feelings!” she always said.

My daughter was offered to an undergraduate admission from Wesleyan, Dartmouth, UC Berkeley, UC L.A., UC Davis and Stanford... and now my daughter has a difficult time in deciding which school she will go to. Thank you very much for the Ivy League Connection for giving my daughter this opportunity of a lifetime. Here, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you
The Ivy League Connection has benefited my daughter greatly and made her dreams come true. I really want this program to be continued so that more and more of our district kids can get into the top schools.

I am here to thank many members of the Ivy League Connection, especially to Mrs. Kronenberg and Mr. Ramsey. They have given up their time, patience, and weekends to advise us when we needed their help with my daughter’s school applications. I would also like to thank El Cerrito High School teachers, counselors, and the other staff members. They have all dedicated their hard work. After the SEAD program, my daughter has become a more independent and mature individual. Before she was always afraid of everything, now she can ride a plane from west coast to east coast to visit colleges all by herself.