College Connection Academy

Tucked into the Alum Rock corridor of east San Jose, College Connection Academy punches well above its weight for a middle school in one of the city's most working-class neighborhoods — landing in the top 11% statewide with particularly strong English and math scores. The name says it all: this is a school built around getting kids thinking about their future early, which tends to resonate with families who want that college-prep mindset established long before high school. East San Jose has a tight-knit, predominantly Latino community with a real sense of neighborhood pride, and for families in the 95122 zip code, finding a school this academically strong close to home is genuinely rare.