PreparatoriaHigh School Program · grades 9–12 · Fridays, since 2014
College visits, mentoring, leadership and research for Norristown’s Latinx teenagers — most of them the first in their families to plan for college. Friday afternoons are theirs.
El camino a la universidadFour years, one plan — built together with each student and family
- Grados 9–10
Explorar
Join the Friday group, meet mentors, discover interests through podcast, film, art and leadership groups.
- Todos los grados
Conocer campus
A college road trip every spring, the Summer Leadership Institute at Penn, and conversations with Latinx professionals.
- Grado 11
Prepararse
SAT prep, a summer college boot camp, a first résumé and a college list that fits the student and the family.
- Grado 12
Decidir
Applications, essays, FAFSA and financial aid with parents in the room — and a senior celebration in May.
Los viernesWhat happens on Fridays
High schoolers take part in the weekly after-school program too — many of them as volunteers with the younger students. Fridays are just for them:
- A weekly high school meeting run with the students
- One-on-one mentoring with university students
- College prep: SAT math, essays, applications, FAFSA and scholarships
- Career and job counseling, résumé workshops
- Podcast and film classes, and leadership groups
- Class visits from University of Pennsylvania students
In June 2026 students, parents and staff cleaned and painted a new high school space on CCATE’s ground floor — a room of their own.
Rutas universitariasEvery spring, a college road trip — paid for largely by the students themselves
Students who commit to the program and volunteer with younger children earn a place on the trip. They raise the money with yard sales, bake sales, movie nights and raffles, and parents travel with them.
- New HavenYale University
- IthacaCornell University
- New York CityCampus visits in the city
- PhiladelphiaDrexel University
- PhiladelphiaThomas Jefferson University
- Philadelphia regionTemple, Villanova, Drexel and Penn
- Close to homeUrsinus, Cabrini and Penn
- PittsburghPenn State, University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon — 25 students, 11 adults
- New Jersey & NYCRutgers, NYU and Hunter College, by Amtrak and subway
- BostonHarvard, MIT, Wellesley, Boston College, Babson and UMass — 34 students and parents
Instituto de LiderazgoHigh School Leadership Institute — one week every July, with the University of Pennsylvania
A week-long intensive for about fifteen students: leadership and community building, mental health and self-care, career workshops, and conversations with Latinx faculty in medicine, nursing, engineering, philosophy, social policy and political science. Students work every day with Penn undergraduate and graduate students — and sleep in a Penn college house.
| Year | Students | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18 | First institute: four days at CCATE and one at Penn |
| 2023 | 15 | Three days in Penn dorms; visits to Montgomery County CC, Drexel, Temple |
| 2024 | 17 | Casa Latina and Kelly Writers House; Swarthmore and Community College of Philadelphia |
| 2025 | 15 | Five days on Penn’s campus |
| 2026 | ~15 | July 6–10, King’s Court College House, Penn |
Where our HSLI seniors went
Every current CCATE senior is an institute alumnus. After the institute, students report talking with their parents about future plans 15% more often.
Summer College Boot Camp
For rising juniors and seniors: college plans, essays and SAT preparation in small groups during summer camp — July 2026, with SAT prep capped at 15 students.
Liderazgo y vozYouth leadership, research and media — spaces where teenagers set the agenda
Chicas Unidas
A group for girls and young women: peer support, women’s leadership, and a critical look at how gender and race shape their lives.
CCATE Reps
Student representatives who bring their classmates’ ideas to staff and help decide what CCATE offers next.
Youth research
Six high school researchers study postsecondary planning and present their findings at Penn. Research
Podcast & film
Students produce and guest on Diálogos de la Villa Inmigrante — including the seniors’ episode every spring. Listen
This fall, a youth committee from several school districts is also organizing a Youth Assembly for ages 13–25 — youth-led from the agenda to the final report.
Penn Model OASDiplomacy in Washington, D.C.
Through the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies, CCATE students join the Penn Model Organization of American States: they research a member country, draft resolutions, and represent it at the Model OAS General Assembly in Washington, D.C.
Lo que logranWhere our students go
Alumni come back — as mentors, summer staff, teachers and speakers. Two Drexel graduates who started in this program spoke at Noche de Arte about what it meant to them.
Compromiso de las familiasWhat students and families commit to
¿Estás en preparatoria?Fall 2026 is full — join the waitlist, or write to us about the Summer Leadership Institute
¡Sí se puede!