San Jose – Hilltoppers Academy School of Excellence– was created to provide a creative experiences and take center stage to a positive alternative for children. The organization says they understand that they are the future generation of County of Santa Clara. By providing a unique and enriching program, they help children reach their potential in life through education and sports, youths who participate in our program benefit from it-in terms of counseling, tutoring, scholarships, etc.
The academy is particularly focused on the youth that the county pro-regulation is responsible for- i.e. foster youth, probation, receiving county benefits, etc, and one the ways they utilize this to benefit the kids is to take them on yearly trips to visit four major colleges: University of Oregon, University of Washington, Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California, and Wichita State University, a public state university in Kansas.
In 2016 40 of the team members, 28 of them are in some sort of county programs, attended these college retreats.
One of the goals in the coming years is to redouble their commitment to providing a world-class education/sports development program. Hilltoppers Academy is expected to have enrollment of over 2,100 from county funded agency’s, group homes and other programs.
The breakdown of the organizations and agencies these children come from is as followed:
- Harvest of Harmony International Church of San Jose – (43 kids)
- San Jose Group Homes comprehensive and innovative agencies – (19 kids)
- San Jose Jobs Corps – Conxion to community Services – (247 kids)
- Uplift Family Services Wraparound – Star-Program (22 kids)
The World Games
The World Games is a basketball tournament, that is held in the city of San Jose, at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, brining together parents, children, schools and the general community from all over the County to take part in this Annual Event. For last year’s World Games, 6,483 players from schools and summer programs nationally attended. Out of these, 417 were county funded in some form in Santa Clara.
The World Games, is a way to catalyze a new era of creativity and discovery by attracting kids that need help in rebuilding their lives. Besides the game of basketball and the structure this provides, the youth that are involved benefit from it in the form of counseling, tutoring, scholarships, etc.
Over the last 12 years the World Games have help to send over 368 kids to college with some form of a scholarship or with some funding are with help to get them a full-ride sports scholarship to a Div. 1 or 2 college.
Additionally, the World Games also have help to send over 847 kids to junior colleges and have helped over 138 kids from dropping out of school or reentering back into school.
About the Hilltoppers Academy School
The program was founded in 1977, and has had over 8,000 kids the program, about 511 that where from county funded programs. Currently there is around 612 active in our school program. We know this program works not just from the surfaces but, below surfaces. With parents/guardians, teachers, & staff, delivering family and-approved community development, education, and youths Sports, we can save lives, and positive honorably good conduct with leadership and-approved counseling.