Partners for New Generations History

Partners for New Generations was created through the Los Altos Rotary Club in 1995/96. PNG began by tutoring elementary and high school children. The following year PNG expanded its efforts to mentor high school students at Alta Vista, a continuation high school. The mentoring program has been expanded to include all three local high schools in the Los Altos Mountain View Union School District.

PNG is a community-based organization, the mission of which is “to inform, support and encourage volunteers to help meet the educational, physical and social needs of youth in our community through mentoring and tutoring”.  Mentors help students by acting as friends and advisors. Many of the students in the Mountain View Los Altos High School Union District struggle with serious issues such as family dysfunction, depression and inadequate financial resources. As a result of these and other issues, approximately 25% of the MVLAHSD student population has a GPA in the D+ to C+ range.

In the 2008/2009 school year, the average mentored student improved his or her GPA by almost an entire grade point. The mentors work with the students to build self-esteem, improve attendance and reduce behavioral referrals. A strong relationship between a caring adult and a teenager reduces significantly the likelihood of the teenager engaging in risky behavior.

The mentor program currently supports over 110 mentor/student pairs at Los Altos, Mountain View and Alta Vista High Schools. In addition to mentoring, PNG supports 50 tutors each year to assist students in the Mountain View and Los Altos elementary, middle and high schools. PNG’s Advisory Committees (all volunteers) performs the recruiting, fundraising and administrative functions.

In addition to its numerous volunteers, PNG has three paid mentor coordinators, one at each of the three high schools. Each coordinator is responsible for matching students to mentors, training the mentors, and following the progress of each match throughout the school year.