City of Redwood City Community Partnerships Series: Cañada College

 

 

City of Redwood City Community Partnerships Series:

Cañada College 

This blog was written by the City of Redwood City. Click here to read the entire story.

The City of Redwood City and Cañada College partner together under a core purpose — committing to build a great community together! Cañada College offers the Redwood City community and surrounding region with an outstanding academic institution, extracurricular opportunities, community services, and much more. Together, this partnership brings together our diverse community by providing personal support and building on the strengths of individuals in a learning environment.

Cañada’s vision is to cultivate a community where students prepare for university, the modern workplace, and the global community. They ensure that students from diverse backgrounds have the opportunity to achieve their educational goals by providing transfer, career, technical, and basic skills programs and lifelong learning opportunities. The City of Redwood City and Canada College share similar goals, including offering learning opportunities, building community, investing in affordable housing, and much more. Here are some ways in which Cañada College encourages learning and community connections.

Supporting Students in the Classroom

Cañada College is committed to being a distinguished institution of learning. They offer over 100 different academic programs including popular majors like Fashion, English as a Second Language (ESL), Business, Engineering, Interior Design and Radiology.

For full time working adults, Cañada offers an innovative program that aligns best with their work schedule, their career goals and their busy lives. College Working Adults is the only program in the Bay Area that makes it possible for adults to complete multiple Associate degrees in just three years while working full time. For additional information on College Working Adults, go here.

Cañada also offers the College Connection Concurrent Enrollment Program, designed to offer current high school students the opportunity to get an early start on their college degree by taking college level classes at Cañada while concurrently enrolled in high school. To find out more information about the College Connection Concurrent Enrollment Program, go here.

The ꜟESO! Adelante Program creates a community of academic support for Latino, and high need, high potential, low resource students at Cañada. This grant program offers students a transfer pathway to San Francisco State University (SFSU) through dedicated staff and peer mentors. Cañada’s ꜟESO! Adelante Program partners with SFSU and guarantees a supportive transfer experience. Some benefits of this program include connection to support services, academic preparation, and an inclusive community that celebrates Hispanic/Latino Heritage. Further information about ꜟESO! Adelante can be found here.

The English as a Second Language (ESL) faculty work closely with the Redwood City Public Library, bringing classes of students to the Downtown and Fair Oaks libraries regularly for tours to make them aware of physical collections and online resources. The Downtown Library also has a set of classroom materials available for Cañada ESL students for whom the public library is more convenient to visit. To learn more about the Redwood City Public Library, go here.

Connecting in the Community

Two years ago, Cañada launched a community relations initiative, “Cañada in Your Community” — an opportunity for students to serve their community outside of the classroom. Since then, the Cañada has hosted holiday jacket and toy drives for local schools and non-profits, held can sorts with Second Harvest Food Bank and worked at a few Redwood City clean-ups. Their goal is to assist the City at least once per quarter and they are always excited to contribute to the community. The community can find Cañada team members present in various Redwood City events like the Salsa Festival, Fiestas Patrias, and 4th of July festivities! To learn about volunteer opportunities in Redwood City go here.

The Cañada College Outreach team’s goal is to build partnerships in the community. Their presence in the community ranges everywhere from giving college presentations at fairs to volunteering at the Redwood City Public Library. For example, in April, the Outreach team hosted their first “Reading Circle” program. This event brought more than 75 community members to the campus where they enjoyed storytelling from the Redwood City Public Library, craft making, and snacks while learning about the educational opportunities available to them at Cañada. Additionally, the outreach team provides other services like campus tours, presentations to high school students, parents and the community, and application and financial workshops. For more information on the Cañada College Outreach team, go here.

Offering Financial Support

The Cañada College Promise Scholarship supports students by making college more affordable and ensuring that higher education is achievable for all members of the community. It is available to residents of San Mateo County who are recent high school graduates and students who have recently completed high school equivalency. The Promise Scholarship covers all student fees and textbook assistance for the first year that a student is enrolled full time.

Cañada College is the second college in California to host a SparkPoint Center, serving individuals and families who struggle to make ends meet while obtaining a higher level of education. Students and other San Mateo County Residents use SparkPoint services to gain financial literacy and achieve financial stability. Some of Cañada’s SparkPoint features include: financial coaching sessions, career services center, food pantry options, and free tax preparation assistance. For more information about SparkPoint at Cañada College, go here.

Providing Affordable Housing

In response to high regional housing costs, Cañada College works under the San Mateo County Community College District to provide affordable housing to their employees. Located on a site at Cañada College, Cañada Vista offers different initiatives to assist District faculty and staff with housing costs. Cañada Vista includes residential buildings that are rented at below-marketed rates, offering very affordable second home loans to first time buyers.

For more information about Cañada Vista, go here.

This year the City of Redwood City celebrates our 150th anniversary and in 2018, Cañada College will be celebrating their 50th anniversary as an academic institution! Stay tuned for their series of celebrations announcement in December.

Cañada proudly serves as Redwood City’s Hometown College! Their partnership with the City of Redwood City work towards promoting higher educational opportunities and community resources for community members.

Wondering what the Cañada campus feels like? Check out their virtual tour!