“¡Si, Se Puede! is more than a catchy slogan or rallying cry. It is a worldview and a philosophy toward ensuring that Latina/o students experience the educational excellence their parents expect and desire. This is the kind of story that our teachers, both pre-service and in-service, need to know to expand their own perspectives about the possibility of educating all students. This is the contribution to the literature on excellence we have been awaiting.”
—From the Foreword by Gloria Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin–Madison

“Ursula Casanova has demonstrated that ‘demography is not destiny’ and that Latino/a students can be spectacularly successful in school. This is a lovely and elegant book, one that I know will make a difference in how educators, researchers, and the general public talk about the education of Latinos because it makes the powerful point that ¡Sí Se Puede!”
—Sonia Nieto, Professor Emerita, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, author of The Light in Their Eyes: Creating Multicultural Learning Communities

This is the story of Cibola High School, a remarkable public school that set itself a daring goal: every one of its students would not just graduate, but would continue on to post-secondary education. With that goal in mind, the teachers, administrators, and counselors created a unique environment that provided the support necessary for students to realize their ambitions. No flash in the pan, Cibola High School has been meeting its goal for over 20 graduations.

Opened to serve an expanding district, Cibola is located across the border from Mexico. The majority of its students receive free lunch, and 74% of its population consists of Latino students, many of them recent immigrants. Through anecdotes and the voices of teachers, school leaders, and students, this book shows the process that has, year-in and year-out, produced results and defied the low expectations that such demographic data predict. Based on an analysis of extensive interviews and research, the author identifies and explores five critical elements associated with the success of this school:

• Unequivocal, uncompromising high expectations
• Distributed, focused leadership
• Assertive guidance and counseling
• Intensive instruction for English language learners
• Flexible responses to problems and development of alternative program pathways to success

With our national dropout pandemic, this is a book with implications not just for schools with high Latino/a populations but for all high schools throughout the nation.

Úrsula Casanova is Associate Professor Emerita at the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education, Arizona State University.