City of Redwood City Community Partnerships Series: Cañada College
Mon, 25 September, 2017 at 2:30 pmCity of Redwood City Community Partnerships Series:
Cañada College
This blog was written by the City of Redwood City.
Click here
to read the entire story.
The City of
Redwood City and Cañada College partner together under a core
purpose — committing to build a great community together! Cañada College offers
the Redwood City community and surrounding region with an outstanding academic
institution, extracurricular opportunities, community services, and much more.
Together, this partnership brings together our diverse community by providing
personal support and building on the strengths of individuals in a learning
environment.
Cañada’s vision
is to cultivate a community where students prepare for university, the modern
workplace, and the global community. They ensure that students from diverse
backgrounds have the opportunity to achieve their educational goals by
providing transfer, career, technical, and basic skills programs and lifelong
learning opportunities. The City of Redwood City and Canada College share
similar goals, including offering learning opportunities, building community, investing
in affordable housing, and much more. Here are some ways in which Cañada
College encourages learning and community connections.
Supporting Students in the Classroom
Cañada College is
committed to being a distinguished institution of learning. They offer over 100
different academic programs including popular majors like Fashion, English as a Second
Language (ESL), Business, Engineering, Interior Design and Radiology.
For full time
working adults, Cañada offers an innovative program that aligns best with their
work schedule, their career goals and their busy lives. College Working Adults
is the only program in the Bay Area that makes it possible for adults to
complete multiple Associate degrees in just three years while working full
time. For additional information on College Working Adults, go here.
Cañada also
offers the College Connection Concurrent Enrollment Program, designed to offer
current high school students the opportunity to get an early start on their
college degree by taking college level classes at Cañada while concurrently
enrolled in high school. To find out more information about the College
Connection Concurrent Enrollment Program, go here.
The ꜟESO!
Adelante Program creates a community of academic support for Latino, and high
need, high potential, low resource students at Cañada. This grant program
offers students a transfer pathway to San Francisco State University (SFSU)
through dedicated staff and peer mentors. Cañada’s ꜟESO! Adelante
Program partners with SFSU and guarantees a supportive transfer experience.
Some benefits of this program include connection to support services, academic
preparation, and an inclusive community that celebrates Hispanic/Latino
Heritage. Further information about ꜟESO! Adelante can be found here.
The English as a
Second Language (ESL) faculty work closely with the Redwood City Public
Library, bringing classes of students to the Downtown and Fair Oaks libraries
regularly for tours to make them aware of physical collections and online
resources. The Downtown Library also has a set of classroom materials available
for Cañada ESL students for whom the public library is more convenient to
visit. To learn more about the Redwood City Public Library, go here.
Two years ago,
Cañada launched a community relations initiative, “Cañada in Your
Community” — an opportunity for students to serve their community outside of
the classroom. Since then, the Cañada has hosted holiday jacket and toy drives
for local schools and non-profits, held can sorts with Second Harvest Food Bank and
worked at a few Redwood City clean-ups. Their goal is to assist the City at
least once per quarter and they are always excited to contribute to the
community. The community can find Cañada team members present in various
Redwood City events like the Salsa Festival, Fiestas Patrias, and 4th of July
festivities! To learn about volunteer opportunities in Redwood City go here.
The Cañada
College Outreach team’s goal is to build partnerships in the community. Their
presence in the community ranges everywhere from giving college presentations
at fairs to volunteering at the Redwood City Public Library. For example, in April, the Outreach team hosted their
first “Reading Circle” program. This event brought more than 75 community
members to the campus where they enjoyed storytelling from the Redwood City
Public Library, craft making, and snacks while learning about the educational
opportunities available to them at Cañada. Additionally, the outreach team
provides other services like campus tours, presentations to high school
students, parents and the community, and application and financial workshops.
For more information on the Cañada College Outreach team, go here.
Offering Financial Support
The Cañada College Promise Scholarship supports students by making college more affordable and
ensuring that higher education is achievable for all members of the community.
It is available to residents of San Mateo County who are recent high school
graduates and students who have recently completed high school equivalency. The
Promise Scholarship covers all student fees and textbook assistance for the
first year that a student is enrolled full time.
Cañada College is
the second college in California to host a SparkPoint Center, serving individuals and families who struggle to make ends
meet while obtaining a higher level of education. Students and other San Mateo
County Residents use SparkPoint services to gain financial literacy and achieve
financial stability. Some of Cañada’s SparkPoint features include: financial
coaching sessions, career services center, food pantry options, and free tax
preparation assistance. For more information about SparkPoint at Cañada
College, go here.
In response to
high regional housing costs, Cañada College works under the San Mateo County Community College District to provide affordable housing to their employees. Located
on a site at Cañada College, Cañada Vista
offers different initiatives to assist District faculty and staff with housing
costs. Cañada Vista includes residential buildings that are rented at
below-marketed rates, offering very affordable second home loans to first time
buyers.
For more
information about Cañada Vista, go here.
Cañada proudly
serves as Redwood City’s Hometown College! Their partnership with the City of
Redwood City work towards promoting higher educational opportunities and community
resources for community members.
Wondering what
the Cañada campus feels like? Check out their virtual tour!