Pathwise is Palo Alto’s only free, non-profit, after-school enrichment program, preparing middle-schoolers to thrive in high school and beyond. Program runs twice a week for 2.5 hours, immediately after school.
Why join?
Community and enrichment
Join a supportive community and explore fun activities like robotics, art, journalism, and more.
Personalized mentoring
Learn from high school or college mentors, who help with homework, study skills, and confidence in core subjects.
Family engagement
Join parent sessions to learn how to navigate school, take advantage of resources, and help your student build skills.
Eligibility
We prioritize students who come from low-income backgrounds, per the Santa Clara County benchmark. We also serve students who are in foster care, housing insecure, first-generation, or part of a historically-underrepresented racial group.
FAQs
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Pathwise is Palo Alto’s only free, non-profit, after-school enrichment program for less-resourced and historically-underrepresented middle school students. Located on each school’s campus, we offer social-emotional learning, academic support, and near-peer mentoring in a safe, welcoming space. We extend that support to families through multilingual communication, school guidance, and advocacy.
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Note: it depends upon PAUSD guidelines. Each student attends the Pathwise program twice per week (Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday). Students form classes of 10-15 at the end of the school day and meet on campus from 2:30-5:15pm on Mondays and Wednesdays and 3:15-5:45pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Each classroom is led by an experienced classroom director and staffed with volunteer student mentors. Parents and guardians are invited to participate in optional education/training sessions.
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Pathwise is located on each PAUSD middle school’s campus (Fletcher, Greene, and JLS).
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No. We can help parents set up carpools to make transportation easier for families, if requested.
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We match middle school students with near-peer mentors from local high schools and colleges. Students and mentors work together for the entire year to build self-confidence, strengthen academics, and hone life skills. We work closely with PAUSD teachers and counselors so that—together with parents—we can collaborate as a team to provide customized support for each student.
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Pathwise students gain confidence, connection, and self-advocacy to thrive in high school. Families gain tools to champion their children’s success. And mentors grow as empathetic, purposeful leaders.
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Pathwise strives to have students become “high-school ready” by the end of eighth grade. This means being academically, task, and life ready. See impact for outcome metrics.
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Speak to your teacher, guidance counselor, Student and Family Engagement Specialist (SaFE), or email us at hello@pathwise.org.