What We Do

The Neighborhood Partnership Program began during the 1997-98 academic year as a partnership between the Occidental Center for Volunteerism and Community Service and Hathaway Family Resource Center to provide mentoring and tutoring services at Luther-Burbank Middle School.

In 1999, the program expanded as it partnered with LAUSD as part of GEAR UP Project Higher Learning. As the program continued to expand, in 2002, the college determined that NPP would serve as an independently-run program. 

GEAR UP Program Higher Learning continued to partner with Occidental when it was awarded new grants in 2000 and 2005. These new grants expanded services to all schools in Northeast LA. Oxy served as a lead partner and provided after school and in class tutoring services, mentor training support, and administrative support.  In 2007, the Eagle Rock High School Title I program partnered with NPP to expand tutoring services at ERHS, and in 2009, NPP partnered with Mustangs on the Move to provide tutoring services to students at John Muir High School.

Occidental partnered for a fourth time  with LAUSD in 2011 as part of GEAR UP 4 LA. GEAR UP 4 LA is located in the Mid-Wilshire and Koreatown sections of Los Angeles.  In 2014, GEAR UP 4 LA was awarded a second grant to serve the students in the Promise Zone of Los Angeles. Oxy continues to provide in class tutoring, mentor training support, college admission and financial aid presentations, college field trips, and administrative support services to the GEAR UP 4 LA schools.

Through outreach in the Los Angeles and Pasadena area, our programs strive to help underrepresented middle and high school students gain the necessary skills required to obtain a high school diploma and effectively transition into the arena of higher education. NPP seeks to enrich the educational experience of current Occidental College students by allowing them to receive real-world, hands-on educational experience outside of the classroom.