Milpitas Middle College High School (MMCHS), an alternative MUSD high school since 2021, is most suitable for students who are not performing at their optimum level in a large-school environment, MMCHS Principal Karisa Scott said.
“If you don’t consider yourself thriving at the moment, I recommend trying a change of placement, maybe in a different environment,” Scott said.
The three main pathways at the school are education and social work, health sciences, and business and entrepreneurship, which differ from the academies offered at MHS yet cohort students in the same way, Scott said.
“For example, there’s a group of students who are all in human biology because they’re in the health sciences pathway, so they all take the shuttle down to the main campus and take that lab together,” Scott said. “They offer each other peer support to be successful in those courses.”
The classes at MMCHS are much smaller than those at MHS; only two high school classes are offered, while the rest are college courses, MMCHS junior Phoebe Nguyen, who uses the pronoun “they,” said. With such a small student population, classmates mostly remain the same from junior to senior year, they added.
“I’d say we’re very close as a class,” Phoebe Nguyen said. “It’s interesting how your relationships in high school change when you’re at the extension.”
At MHS, teachers’ lesson plans and instructions lacked clarity because there were too many students, Phoebe Nguyen said.
“Every day felt like a rinse and repeat type of thing,” Phoebe Nguyen said. “But over at the extension, teachers go more in-depth and the classes are way longer, so they spend more time catering to their students’ needs.”
Scott provides many volunteer and job opportunities, such as tutoring students at Thomas Russell Middle School to earn money, MMCHS junior Kaitlyn Nguyen said. As someone pursuing a career as an architect, being able to visit the Innovation Campus, where students can learn about careers in areas such as architecture, was helpful, she added.
“It’s really helpful because we get to take actual college classes,” Kaitlyn Nguyen said. “Then we have adulting on Wednesdays every week. We get to pick our own topics, so we learned about taxes.”
MMCHS offers a myriad of resources to students, such as receiving daily tutoring from teachers and retaking assessments for high school courses, Scott said.
“Students are receiving both high school and college counseling,” Scott said. “Unlike some traditional high schools, where maybe you are encouraged to meet with your counselor but not required to, here at the middle college, you are required to each semester meet at least one time with both your high school and college counselor.”
Nonetheless, MMCHS needs many improvements, just like any other school, Scott said. Although there are no specific issues that can be currently pinpointed, constant improvements will be made as the staff works with students in leadership to make adjustments and survey students frequently, she added.
“Every single school should be constantly in a state of evolution because we, as a society, constantly evolve,” Scott said. “As people, generations, and our understanding change and grow, we have to be constantly willing to adjust our instructional practices, our response to behaviors, and the support that we offer.”
However, enrolling in MMCHS is not for everyone, Kaitlyn Nguyen said.
“I wouldn’t recommend the school to people who are doing sports because we don’t have any sports at our school,” Kaitlyn Nguyen said. “If you’re thriving (at MHS), keep going.”
For some students, it may take two weeks to a month to fully adjust after transferring to MMCHS, Phoebe Nguyen said.
“When I was in the in-between stages, it was much like, ‘Is this good for me? Do I really need this? Did I make a mistake?’” Phoebe Nguyen said. “But I think starting my college classes helped me settle in and feel more comfortable. I was like, okay, this is the right thing to do — this helps me a lot. I feel like I belong here.”
Even after transitioning to a new school, Kaitlyn Nguyen still misses her friends at MHS, she said.
“I don’t have any regrets,” Kaitlyn Nguyen said. “I miss some things like my friends, but besides that, there’s not anything I regret.”