Empowering Educational Excellence & Community Development.
The LEAP STEAM + E Academy of San Juan is the largest Alianza School in Puerto Rico, serving 600 students in grades K-9 and expanding to 720 when its student cohorts reach 12th grade.
LEAP is focused on transforming educational opportunities for parents and children. With a firm belief that quality education transforms lives, LEAP is an educational enterprise that is entrepreneurial, innovative, efficient and accountable. The innovative spirit of LEAP STEAM + E Academy of San Juan is reflected in its transformational approach to college readiness and access, and its commitment to serving all children. That commitment and access along with the LEAP college culture raises achievement expectations for all of our students and builds hope and acts as a springboard to action. The academic focus for the school is STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) with integration of entrepreneurship skills (+E), as the school channels its resources and priorities toward preparing students to develop the motivation and academic competencies to be competitive to enter the university and the labor force.
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We continue to strive for world-class educational excellence and a bright future for our students!
Rutgers LEAP Alfredo Santiago Scholar Program induction Ceremony Learn More
We believe that all students deserve an excellent education from infancy to college.
We believe in the ability to achieve academic excellence through a infant to college educational pipeline. Our model is based on a comprehensive integrated approach that serves the entire family. The students and families in the LEAP Social Enterprise Community attend college and score higher than the national average in assessments. In fact, students in our communities perform four times higher than students from similar social and economic backgrounds. Learn More
LEAP STEAM + E Academy features many innovative programs all geared at providing its students with the best quality of education, including:
Every school building offers:
- Extended Day and Year to ensure that students are taking advantage of every opportunity to learn and prepare. School opens at 7:00 am and is serving students through 6:00 pm every day.
- Small Classroom sizes (20 students per classroom) to ensure that students are given individualized attention and that instructional routines are better organized.
- A focus on applied learning through an integrated curriculum that capitalizes on project-based learning and access to a Fabrication Lab so students can apply skills and learn by inventing and experimenting.
- Students receive a computer to use at the school and at home when engaging in virtual learning opportunities.
- LEAP STEAM + E students participate in Early College beginning in grade 10 to ensure that they earn dual college credits and graduate already ahead as they begin their college careers. Students will attend classes at Sagrado Corazon University.
- The school focuses on building solid and positive relationships with parents and community members and the school ensures that they have access to quality teachers and staff. Families have opportunities for learning through access to Social and Emotional services, training and job readiness training.
- Teachers at LEAP STEAM+E are valued and supported and our school compensates our teachers at the highest salary in Puerto Rico with teachers making twice as much as other public-school teachers in Puerto Rico. This level of pay equity is matched by opportunities for professional development.
- Ongoing assessment and evaluation are in a place to ensure high levels of accountability for all.
- Program for students to support their Social and Emotional development.
- On Site food and nutrition program that serves breakfast and lunch every day.
GLORIA BONILLA-SANTIAGO, PH.D.
Dr. Gloria Bonilla-Santiago is CEO and founder of the LEAP Social Enterprise and a Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor, Graduate Department of Public Policy and Administration at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. She also directs the Community Leadership Center and is the overseer of the LEAP Academy University Charter School. Throughout her academic career, she has established a track record in coordinating large-scale programs through private and public ventures that bring together external and internal stakeholders from a range of organizations, including government, business, non-profits and philanthropic sectors at the local, national and international levels. Learn More