Alternatives in Action High School (formerly known as Bay Area School of Enterprise) serves youth from the Bay Area who are motivated to transform their lives and their communities. The first youth-initiated charter high school in the country, Alternatives in Action High School provides an environment in which youth take ownership of their own learning and partner with caring adults to change their lives as they change the community around them.
Alternatives in Action High School was originally founded as the Bay Area School of Enterprise in February 2001, when a group of ten youth, working in partnership with adult experts, designed, wrote, and submitted the first ever youth-initiated charter school petition in the country. After receiving a unanimous vote of approval from the Alameda Unified School District Board of Trustees on May 16, 2001, the school opened in September 2001. The school’s Charter was subsequently renewed again by unanimous vote of the Alameda Unified School Board in February of 2006 and February 2011, and was renewed once more in November 2015. The school is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. At the start of the 2014-2015 school year, the high school relocated to East Oakland’s Seminary Neighborhood, where it will serve as the anchor for a vibrant new community Youth & Family Center.
Alternatives in Action High School has over ten years of demonstrated success graduating students and preparing them for impactful lives in college, career, and community. Since 2001, they have engaged a diverse student body (97% of whom are students of color with diverse economic and English language learner backgrounds) in the creation of over 50 social action projects, hosted over 150 visitors wanting to learn more about the school’s innovative approach, and had our graduates accepted to colleges including UCLA, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, San Diego State University, Sacramento State University, San Francisco State University, and Mills College.