school districts, and defense industries. Long Beach Unified School District serves as the managing school district fiscal agent. Today, CAMS ranks in the top ten schools in California on the NCLB Academic Performance Index; its students score well above state and national averages on the math and verbal SATs. Average student daily attendance in 2003-04 was 98%. Attrition is less than 5% for all reasons, as opposed to a 50% drop-out rate in some local high schools, and 95% of CAMS students go on to four-year colleges and universities, including the most selective and prestigious in the nation. (Approximately 5% attend community colleges.) Although CAMS winnows about 175 students from about a thousand of 9th grade applicants each year, CAMS does not rank its applicants for acceptance, but accepts students from each of its 75 feeder schools including predominately inner-city middle schools. Its mission is to “defy the odds” and prove that students, especially those from academically deprived environments, can excel in math and science, given a setting that features integrated curriculum, teamwork, and real world applications of learning. Faculty refer to CAMS as a “talent development program.” Class size is relatively large, between 30-40 students. The school receives about $5,500 per student annually, placing CAMS is on par with the state average for high schools. (CAMS’s base funding is $4,400 per student; private donations and special legislative funding make up the rest.) Campus Because CAMS is on the CSUDH campus, juniors and seniors may enroll in university courses (and some CAMS teachers teach at CSUDH). In the past, students were able to begin taking courses on CSUDH campus as early as their sophomore year. CAMS students may graduate with as many as 20 college credits—an advantage for students applying to selective colleges and/or advancing to early college graduation, particularly with CSUDH summer classes through a Honda-sponsored program. Many of these students receive generous scholarship awards to help them afford higher education costs. The school oversees numerous internship and summer programs with business partners, matching students with professionals from an industry of the student’s choice. Mentors from local industries help bridge the gap between the classroom and the “real world,” inspiring students to think beyond high school. One mentor who is still in contact with students he mentored over the years said, “I am most tough on time management, which I think helped them be successful in their studies.” History