History of PEP at Balboa High School

PEP was born at Balboa High School out of the needs of Filipina/o American teachers and students in the Excelsior neighborhood of San Francisco.

​Professor Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales started PEP in 2001 as a lunchtime youth mentorship program. The students, who were attending the PEP lunchtime program, became aware of the multitude of problems facing their community and expressed a dissatisfaction with the lack of Filipina/o content and curriculum in their classes. 

Several students then asked to turn the lunchtime program into a regular class during the school day. The mentors of the program then turned to learning how to teach. They began to study critical pedagogy and created lesson plans for a Filipina/o American experience course. They then developed a year-long curriculum that was approved by the administration at Balboa High School and students were able to take the course for elective college credit. 

The PEP class at Balboa High School is now in its 15th year and is currently being held during 2nd period in Room TBA.

Vision

​​Our theme for the 2016-2017 school year is TIME. We will utilize a knot in a rope as a metaphor for time to represent that the past, present, and future are intertwined with one another and therefore, affect one another. ​ ​
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​As Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP) celebrates its 15th Year Anniversary, our purpose within our classroom is to reflect on the narratives of our his/herstorical past, understand how we shape and construct the present, and critically respond to the urgency of the times to take action in our communities in the face of oppression now and in the future.

Mission

Learning Outcomes:  Essential Skills and Knowledge
Through critical dialogue, community collaboration, creative cultural art projects and performance, students will gain the following:
  • Preparation for higher education through creating an academically rigorous Filipinx* American history class that is student-led, deciphering college level texts, and obtaining academic resources.
  • Knowledge about the history and legacy of resistance and activism of Filipinxs, Filipinx Americans and communities of color in the United States, that will enable them to find agency within themselves to respond to their struggles and experiences.
  • Opportunities to develop their purpose in school, life and their community and actualize their purpose and vision and the ability to navigate life after high school
  • Mentoring relationships to develop community and to nurture personal growth towards physical, emotional, and mental health
  • Understanding art as a narrative, a tool of resistance, and a space for critical reflection and healing
  • Gain skills that allow them to express themselves creatively and locate themselves within her/history and critically deconstruct and challenge modern-day systems of oppression.
Class Schedule
​​Room & Host Teacher: 327, Nikhil Laud
2nd Period
Monday: 9:18am - 10:16am
Wednesday: 8:15am - 9:25am
Thursday & Friday: 9:30am - 10:40am
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Faculty and Administration
Principal
Susan Ritter
Assistant Principal
John Nepomuceno
Assistant Principal
Freedom Siyam

Demographics
1,257 Total Students Enrolled
American Indian or Alaska Native 0.6%
Asian 39.9%
Black or African American 7.3%
Filipino 10.2%
Latino 31.1%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 2.8%
None Reported 2.5%
Two or more Races 0.7%
White 5%

​​Balboa High School
1000 Cayuga Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94112
San Francisco Unified School District