Media Contact: Pat JaCoby (858)534-7404

APPLICATIONS FOR PREUSS SCHOOL AT UCSD NOW BEING ACCEPTED THROUGH FEBRUARY 15

Applications for admission to The Preuss School on the University of California, San Diego campus are being accepted now through February 15, 2000. Students who will enter 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grades in September, 2000, are eligible to apply.

Interested students and parents can obtain the applications at local elementary and middle schools. Further information or assistance with applications is available by calling John Bwarie at (858) 822-2781.

Meanwhile, a series of informational workshops for parents about The Preuss School will be offered in November and December. The meetings will answer questions regarding The Preuss School curriculum, admissions requirements and policies, and student life issues. Parent and student panelists also will be available to give a first-hand account of what it is like to attend The Preuss School this year. Dates and locations of these sessions include:

* 7 p.m. Nov. 23, Kimbrough Elementary School, 321 Hoitt St.
* 7 p.m. Nov. 30, Keiller Middle School, 7270 Lisbon St.
* 7 p.m. Dec. 2, Memorial Junior High, 2850 Logan Ave.
* 6 p.m. Dec. 7, Jackie Robinson YMCA, 151 YMCA Way.
* 6 p.m. Dec. 8, Weingart City Heights Library, 3795 Fairmount Ave.
* 7 p.m. Dec. 10, Washington Elementary School, 1789 State St.

Additionally, students, families and the general public are invited to an Open House to be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Jan. 15 at The Preuss School on the UCSD campus.

The Preuss School, the only public charter school in California to be established on a college campus, will accept 250 new students this fall-100 new sixth grade students, and 50 each in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades.

Added to the charter year enrollees of 150, this brings the second year enrollment to 400. The school's steady state enrollment, in the year 2004, will be 700 sixth through 12 graders.

One major aspect of the school's 2000 fall term will be the move from its temporary quarters on the Thurgood Marshall College campus into its new $13.1 million complex of buildings currently under construction on UCSD's East Campus.

In addition to increasing the student enrollment, 10 additional faculty members will be added next fall to join the current 11 member faculty and Principal Doris Alvarez. The school faculty is augmented by UCSD students and faculty who serve as tutors and mentors.

Two hundred applicants from last year's fall term who are on a waiting list will be requested to reapply. They will be entered with this year's applications in a lottery, to be held in April, which will determine who will be admitted to the school.

The Preuss School offers a solely college-prep curriculum. All students have to meet three criteria: they come from low income families, no parent holds a university degree, and they show the potential to succeed academically.

The mission of the school is to prepare its students to win admission to, and succeed at, top level universities.