Editor's Note: Many UC Davis outreach programs will be ongoing during the summer months, providing opportunities for the media to see classroom instruction and teacher workshops. Contact Lisa Lapin, News Service, (530) 752-9842. The University of California, Davis, concludes the 1999-2000 school year having dramatically expanded its programs in Northern California public schools to help thousands of students prepare for college admission. The campus is also providing professional support to hundreds more teachers, counselors and administrators. More than 10,000 additional students received assistance from UC Davis this school year, largely in urban schools from Stockton to Del Paso Heights with a history of low college attendance. The programs are supported by an annual $2.4 million from the state Legislature, targeted to boost enrollment of underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students. "I am amazed by how much we have been able to accomplish in a year in more fully developing our school partnerships and in the expansion of our Early Academic Outreach program. But I am also humbled by how much there is still to do," said Yvonne Marsh, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, who has responsibility for several campus outreach efforts. "Our school partners are enthusiastic about our presence in their schools and campus faculty have come forward with exciting programs for children and teachers. UC Davis will be a vital player in helping to support schools and contribute to well-prepared students from many of our most under-served communities." Highlights from the 1999-2000 school year: **UC Davis' Early Academic Outreach Program, which provides intensive college preparatory counseling to students and their families in 68 schools throughout the region, boosted its enrollments by 25 percent this school year, adding 1,300 more middle and high school students to its roster. In one of many programs, hundreds of middle school students were brought to UC Davis last winter for PSAT testing, a precursor to college admissions tests. ** The number of schools entering formal partnerships with UC Davis increased from eight last year to 20 in 1999-2000, with one more district expected to be added in the fall of 2000 as resources become available. Partner schools, selected on the basis of low college-going rates, work with UC Davis under customized agreements in which the university provides intensive services and programs, including the Reservation for College preparatory curriculum, staff development and subject-matter continuing education for teachers. ** The UC Davis Office of School/University Partnerships was created this year and now has a staff of 14 education professionals who oversee partnership efforts, manage on-site school programs and coordinate staff development and teacher training. ** The Reservation for College program, launched a year ago at one Sacramento elementary school, will have more than 2,000 fourth- and fifth-grade students participating in 14 elementary schools by this fall. This year UC Davis committed an additional $215,000 in funds to build an endowment for future grants for successful Reservation for College graduates enrolling at UC Davis. The Reservation for College curriculum, being designed at UC Davis, was completed this year for the fifth grade. The program will prepare students from the fourth grade through sixth grade, with lessons about the importance of a college degree. ** Specialized academic academies were coordinated by UC Davis in nine schools this year, providing additional focused instruction for students and training for teachers. The academies are offered after school, as an additional school period, or on Saturdays. They focus on critical thinking and problem-solving skills in the upper grades, and math, science and the arts in elementary school. ** More than 100 other specialized programs campus-wide, many created by UC Davis professors, involve countless additional students in hundreds of schools. These range from Animal Ambassadors, model lessons developed by the School of Veterinary Medicine to interest students in science through an understanding of animals, to ArtsBridge, where UC Davis students teach art in schools that have limited resources for arts instruction. ** UC Davis will hold a four-day institute in June for 60 school counselors from the greater Sacramento area, providing them training to work more effectively with low-income and underrepresented students, and to assist larger numbers of these students to become competitively eligible for UC admission. ** UC Davis provided continuing education to 8,700 teachers this year through Subject Matter Projects for those who teach math, science, reading, writing, the arts and history. UC Davis is one of only two UC campuses to offer teacher training in six subjects, and the only campus to offer an arts focus. The intensive subject-matter training allows teachers to immerse themselves in a selected discipline and develops model lessons. Another 3,300 teachers were enrolled in training through UC Davis University Extension programs. "Resources alone do not create great teachers," said Matt Pigg, a local history teacher and technology specialist who helped UC Davis create a virtual history Web site for California teachers through the History and Cultures Project. "Teachers can feel very isolated. Through the project, we hope to create a professional community that can help teachers learn from each other." Although the majority of efforts are long term (the first Reservation for College students will apply for college in 2007), early indications of the UC Davis outreach programs' collective success were seen this fall, when applications for admission from underrepresented students increased. This spring, offers of admission for fall 2000 were extended to 13.6 percent more African Americans, 5.8 percent more Latinos and 23.5 percent more Chicanos than in 1999.