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:: TESTIMONIALS

A few years ago there was a kid who was struggling a little because he didn't quite fit the mold and his educational path was looking a bit clouded. Lee's commitment was never in doubt, but his options certainly were.

Seemingly out of nowhere, along came Contra Costa Alternative School (Holden) tucked away in the most unlikeliest of places, the middle class suburbs of Orinda on the other side of the Oakland Hills where we live. Leave it up to Lee to find this oasis for adolescent voyagers who have lost or are on the verge of losing their way. My first reaction was that this wasn't really a school, but more of a halfway house for disaffected kids and idealist dreamers. Actually, as it turned out, both of those things were true, and I eventually learned the value that such a place could have for all of those who crossed through its doors. As it turned out, the idealism of the teachers and staff at CCAS (Holden) is coupled with a gritty sense of realism and a wealth of compassion that melts down even the iciest of their teenage charges.

Lee not only survived the adolescent experience, he thrived and grew up in ways that Michelle and I could never have imagined. The role that CCAS (Holden) played in his maturation was instrumental and we will be forever in their debt. They not only helped to educate Lee, they gave him validation as a person. Almost overnight, he metamorphosed from a disgruntled outsider to a kid with a purpose, and, even more remarkably, he developed a nearly insatiable appetite for knowledge.
 
-Blake, parent of graduate, in letter to friends, 2003

I can't say what would have become of me had I never attended CCAS (Holden). I can't imagine trading a day of my time there, for all the money in the world. There is no price or easily definable value that can be placed on my experience there. I can say, in full honesty, that it was time at CCAS (Holden) that gave me the ability to live a happy life, to have deep and meaningful relationships, to excel at work. I gained ethics, knowledge that I can change what I don't like about my life, understanding of people, unconditional love and respect for my fellow human beings. All in all, it was everything a school should be and more. There was a synergy of student and teacher that should be the model of education for all schools.
 
-Gannon Abbey, class of 1989

My very intelligent daughter was pulling a 0.00 GPA at public high school when we transferred her to CCAS (Holden). The school, the staff and students changed her life! Once clinically depressed, she is now vivacious and ready for her next adventure studying abroad in Santiago, Chile! I couldn't be more impressed with CCAS (Holden), especially its wonderful directors.
 
-Anne, parent of graduate, class of 2003

Once I started attending CCAS (Holden), my entire perceptions on school and learning completely changed. This school has made my life amazingly better in so many ways. It has helped me to define and better myself in every way imaginable.
 
-Graduate, class of 2003

At CCAS (Holden), when I first came, I couldn't write, I couldn't read, I couldn't even understand half the words that were being said in class, because to tell you the truth, learning is hard for me and when I went to public school nobody cared if I could learn and nobody even cared about me. That's the truth. Before I came to CCAS (Holden), every day at school was just surviving. Hanging with the gangs was the only way I felt safe because in my city, I was different, and in my city, if you are different and no one's got your back, you're not going to survive.

I was different at CCAS (Holden) too. I came with my own problems, but I looked around, I saw that other people came with their own problems too, and instead of kicking me out, the staff helped me to overcome my past and they are helping me even still. I watched students and my friends at CCAS (Holden) change every year trying on different ways of living and they tried to solve their own problems. I know that students at CCAS (Holden) are all becoming better people and I have faith that in this graduating class, we are all going to make it.
 
-Speech by graduate, class of 1999

When my son first came to Contra Costa Alternatve School, he was bewildered by the culture of CCAS (Holden), but I think, though he never really admitted it, he was bewildered in mostly a good way. He didn't think the staff members of the school understood him, maybe because of the way he dressed, his background, and his fixation with gangsta culture. He began saying that he liked his school because it was a part of his family. Finally, by the third year of CCAS (Holden), something happened which I never expected. He began coming home from school and telling me that school went great. He began saying that he was proud of himself and that he had never been happier in his life. I didn't think too much of what he said, given the bi-polar nature of his adolescence, but the negative statements never really came anymore. Finally, in the last 2 weeks of school, he began saying, "Dad, school went great today. I've completed my assignments and today is the happiest day of my life." Well, I didn't let this go by too many times before I had to point it out to him. "Son, if today is the happiest day of your life and yesterday was the happiest day of your life, than that means that today went better than yesterday, and both of them were better than the happiest day of your life you had last week. This can't be true?" My son just flashed an almost negligible smile and said, "It is."
 
-Father of graduate, class of 1999

CCAS (Holden) and its approach to education gave me the time to excel in school and also pay attention to what was going on personally and internally letting me glow and blossom and not just read mindless, irrelevant textbooks. CCAS (Holden) is intimate, and everyone who works here is committed to the idea of community. At CCAS (Holden) there are a lot of positive, strong women role models for us young women to look up to. CCAS (Holden) was my haven for a year and it's a family and a home for me.
 
-Graduate, class of 2002

Along with everyone else, the public school system has failed me. I had no idea what an experience education could be until I enrolled at CCAS (Holden). I had resigned myself to eight more years of being a faceless member of the crowd, being assigned pointless and irrelevant busywork by inattentive and unmotivated teachers, being surrounded by kids who were not interested in learning anything from anybody. The best thing I have done for myself is enroll in an alternative school.

It is my belief that kids rebel because they feel oppressed and don't think they can express themselves freely and be respected. At CCAS (Holden) there aren't excuses for disrespect and general rebellion. If you utilize all the opportunities here, there is a realization that you matter, and you are safe to speak what you desire. This is the greatest gift I think anyone can ever be given. From the years that I attended Contra Costa Alternative (Holden), I have found that the commonplace public school ailments such as general class disruptions and disrespect for teachers are much less common.

If I didn't have CCAS (Holden), I don't think I would have ever learned that some adults are on our team, so to speak. Until CCAS (Holden), adults had screwed me over, controlled me and used me. But such was not the case. At CCAS (Holden), I was treated like a human being, and for that I am grateful.
 
-Graduate, class of 2000

CCAS (Holden) is the perfect place for students thinking in a very independent way. I loved the relaxed environment, the low student to teacher ratio and the liberal/tolerant creativity-inducing environment. My daughter is a very independent thinker who did not fit in a formal and strict public school but thrived and enjoyed being a student at CCAS (Holden). The friendly, professional teachers helped very much to unlock her potential and helped her realize that in terms of her future, the sky is the limit!
 
-Parent of former student, 2000

I think you do an awesome job of providing a creative, respectful, interesting, challenging, cool, unique and wonderful place to be a human and go to school. Your honesty and directness always makes me feel comfortable and happy. Meetings were a good thing, instead of a nightmare. I appreciate you all VERY much.
 
-Letter to staff from a former parent, 1998

Never have I seen a group of five adults treat each other with such true respect and regard. The real thing, not the polite niceties and shallow approval, but real respect and honor. They don't work against or undermine each other. They all work together, playing to each other's strengths rather than each other's challenges. No one's back-stabbing to get ahead or to look more competent. They put what's best for the kids first, and work together to figure that out. This group cohesion is what makes CCAS (Holden) such a solid place for the kids, which they desperately need, as you know.
 
-A former counselor writing on the five CCAS (Holden) Directors, 2000