History

Mentoring & Partnership for Youth Development was founded in 2002, when principal Eddie Newman, Ed.D, recognized that the behavior of the male student body contributed to a number of concerns such as low academic scores, violence and truancy at the historic John Muir High School.

To solve the growing issue, Dr. Newman recruited community leaders to volunteer their time to work with school administrators and focus on the male students to bring order to the campus and cultivate a more positive learning environment. They worked with professionals, as well as civic organizations, to help the young men focus on respect, academic success, and communication with their parents through mentoring. They invested their time and money into changing the lives of young men.

Since then, MPYD has evolved from a group of volunteers into a fully staffed organization. We continue to provide
students with volunteer mentors, tutoring and exposure to motivational speakers during our daily free lunch discussion groups. Additionally, MPYD offers: academic monitoring, a summer residence camp, job placement assistance, Young Voices advisory period, field trips, student council and advanced college prep.