School Profile

The Middle College program at the College of San Mateo is a collaboration between the San Mateo Union High School District and the San Mateo Community College District. The mission of Middle College at CSM is to offer a unique pathway for students to accomplish their secondary and post-secondary goals while challenging themselves in a supportive, individualized learning community.

Middle College provides students with education acceleration through enrollment in student-selected college courses. Because of the rigor of the college coursework and the semester classes equivalent to one year in a high school course, Middle College typically advises students to take only 6-9 units of college classes and a maximum of 15 units, in addition to their high school English, Social Science, and Advisory courses. Middle College stresses integration into the college environment, including attending classes with the college student body, attending high school classes on the college campus, and pursuing college community opportunities like student-senate or college clubs.

The program, which began in August 1998, includes up to 205 juniors and seniors and has 11 staff members. Students in the program benefit from close interactions with their teachers in a mature learning environment with personalized support that helps them make the transition from high school to college. Through a partnership with Wayfinder, a program born in Stanford University’s Dlab, our students engage in two years of structured, intentional, purpose-driven social-emotional learning. We prioritize nurturing and challenging the whole human being, and our cross-content SEL curriculum stresses growing students’ EQs.

Following a rigorous application process, students who are accepted into and choose to attend San Mateo’s Middle College realize that they are selecting to be part of a community of people seeking to advance themselves personally and academically. Students who come to Middle College are expected to engage sincerely in their work and classes, have excellent attendance, respect the dignity of others, and grow as students and human beings, thus creating a community that helps others do the same.