Welcome

Youth Science Institute's mission is to "inspire enthusiasm for science and a love of learning." We provide school and summer science camp programs for 30,000 students each year.

Founded in 1953, YSI has served more than 1.5 million children. Our “sweet spot” is teaching hands-on, nature-based science to Pre-K – 8th grade students; 28,000 of the children we serve come to YSI with their classroom teacher.

As leaders in STEM education, our reach extends throughout Silicon Valley; our primary geographic focus is Santa Clara County. A menu of 17 programs is tailored to meet a classroom’s curriculum needs at multiple grade levels. Our hands-on, experiential programs develop the 21st Century skills necessary for academic success, ultimately leading to a child’s opportunity for economic success.

Our students mirror the cultural, ethnic and socio-economic diversity of the County’s public school system. Our programs are appropriate and impactful for students along the broad-spectrum from at-risk to high-achieving. Our additional direct clients are public, private, charter, and home-school teachers, school and district administrators, community group leaders, and Silicon Valley families.

YSI operates three Science and Nature Centers in Alum Rock Park, East San Jose, Sanborn-Skyline County Park in Saratoga, and Vasona Lake County Park in Los Gatos. Centers are open to the public and feature live animals, interactive exhibits and child/family programming.

We believe that providing hands-on experiences that ignite a child’s interest in science and connection with nature develop:

• Literacy, especially science literacy
• 21st Century Skills, especially critical thinking skills, that are necessary for academic, career and life-long success
• Interest in science-related careers specifically, and STEM-related careers in general
• An awareness of and interest in caring for nature and our natural resources (stewardship)
• A fostering of personal health and sense of well-being that time in nature commonly provides, especially in children

Did you know?

• In 2009-10, 40% of 5th graders in Santa Clara County fell “below proficient” in STAR testing for science; thus, failing science

• 16% of Bay Area elementary school teachers say they teach NO science in the classroom

• Nationwide, students spend on average only 16 minutes per week on science

• Children studying hands-on science score higher in math, reading and writing proficiency than their peers who do not receive hands-on science instruction

Products and Services

Youth Science Institute partners with nature to teach science to pre-school through 8th grade students throughout Santa Clara County and Silicon Valley. YSI's primary clients are classroom teachers and their students.

Our school and group programs, and summer science camps fill the gap that is present in science education today to inspire enthusiasm for science and love of learning and to forge connections with nature that foster personal health and earth stewardship.

YSI also serves Silicon Valley families and their children through Group Programs (for Scout Troops, churches, other agencies), and Summer Science Camps at all three sites.

YSI's Science and Nature Centers feature live mammals, birds, insects, amphibians and reptiles. YSI maintains a native plant trail at Vasona Lake County Park, an organic garden at Sanborn-Skyline County Park, and a raptor aviary at Alum Rock Park.

YSI's Overall Program Goals Are:

*Engage students in active learning that ignites subject interest and improves academic achievement by delivering grade-appropriate, high-quality, structured and safe hands-on science programs in outdoor and classroom settings, correlated to State Standards

*Develop critical thinking skills and positive self-esteem while improving students’ learning behaviors, attitudes and skills by engaging them in small-group lessons that are engaging, fun and memorable

*Provide a direct, safe animal encounter with some combination of reptiles, amphibians, insects, birds and mammals; many students have never touched a live animal before (half of our programs involve our animals)

*Support classroom teachers’ curricula objectives by working with them to choose programs and activities that align with their curricula requirements, that can also be leveraged across other subjects

*Achieve consistent survey results indicating sustained and increasing teacher satisfaction with YSI programs

*Support YSI instructors through the availability of quality teaching materials and professional development that develop and support best teaching practices

*Maintain the well being of all YSI animals, ensuring their continued availability to students

Awards and Achievements

• YSI reached 30,000 students through science education programs in 2010-11

• In YSI’s 2010-11 school programs, more than 28,000 students came to us with their classroom teacher. Of those students, 33% were at-risk students from Title One schools and 28% were English Language Learners.

• In the Fall, 2009, under a new contract with the City of Los Altos Parks Department, YSI began delivering its School Programs at Redwood Grove in Los Altos.

• In 2008, YSI dedicated its new Learning Center at YSI Vasona, adding two classrooms, four labs and an instructor resource area to the existing hands-on museum and “outdoor classroom” at Vasona Park in order to meet current demand for programs and ultimately reach more children

• Funded by a National Innovation Generation Grant from the the Motorola Foundation and program grant from National Semiconductor, YSI has entered into a long-term partnership with the Alum Rock School District, comprised entirely of Title 1 schools, to deliver YSI programs to their primary and middle schools students.

Our Team

YSI is proud of its professional staff of instructors, who are the heart and soul of all our programs. These highly trained, talented and passionate experts have extensive backgrounds in science, inquiry-based learning and working with children. Most have advanced degrees. Classroom teachers tell us time and time again that it is our Instructor Staff that sets YSI apart and has them coming back year after year.

The average tenure of our Instructors is 8+ years. Our most senior staffer has been with us for 30 years! And the Management Team consists of nonprofit professionals with an average tenure of 7+ years.

Mission, Vision, and Values

Youth Science Institute's mission is to Inspire Enthusiasm for Science and a Love of Learning. We partner with nature to teach kids science!

YSI's vision is to address today’s science education crisis by filling the gap that is present in primary and secondary education today. We will give children a hands-on experience of the world around them that nurtures their individual health and stewardship of the earth. We will be the primary voice regionally for the importance of science education. We will train classroom teachers to be skilled at and comfortable with teaching science.

YSI’s hands-on, small-group science education programs develop the critical thinking skills that are necessary for a child’s academic success, which ultimately impacts his or her opportunity for economic success.

Santa Clara County is served by only a handful of nonprofit organizations providing science education to schoolchildren. Together, these existing agencies meet only a small percentage of the demand for science education for preschool-through-middle school children.

YSI is unique in these ways:

• Programs are delivered in a natural park setting at our Science and Nature Centers at Alum Rock, Sanborn and Vasona parks, and at Redwood Grove; teachers prefer to bring their classes to us – if they cannot come to us, we go to them

• 50% of YSI programs feature a direct, hands-on encounter with live animals and insects

• A majority of YSI programs feature a nature hike that connects students directly with nature

• Teachers overwhelming prefer to bring their students to our park-based Science and Nature Centers; when they cannot come to us, we go to them

• YSI reaches 10% of the County’s school population of 300,000 students, or 30,000 children each year - enough to fill the Shark Tank almost twice! 50% of teachers return to YSI year after year.

Social Responsiblity

School teachers, particularly those teaching pre-K through 8th grade (YSI’s primary focus area) have limited time, training and resources to serve students with the kinds of hands-on, natural science experience that we have designed specifically to develop critical thinking skills and reinforce scientific processes.

Additionally, at many of the schools we serve, science takes a back seat to other priorities. In fact, nationwide, students only spend an average of 16 minutes per week on science in the classroom, and 16% of bay area teachers say they teach NO science in the classroom.

Few schools have access to the resources and materials needed to bring science to life through experimentation or tactical lessons - this is especially true for Title One schools (children on free/reduced lunch program), which comprise 33% of our client base.

At YSI, students observe the stages of the life cycle, handle and examine geologic and fossil specimens, explore the animals and insects living in creeks and streams, collect waters samples to observe under a microscope, learn how birds fly, and much more.

These hands-on experiences enable them to make connections that solidify conceptual learning in the classroom, and develop the critical thinking skills necessary for academic and employment success.

Teachers repeatedly tell us that the YSI experience is one that bolsters their science lessons in a way that otherwise would be completely unavailable to them.

• 33% of all students served by YSI are on a free/reduced lunch program (aka Title One).

• 28% of the students we serve are English Language Learners (ELL).

National studies prove time and time again that hands-on science learning develops literacy in all children, especially ELL students. Students who receive hands-on science lessons have higher math and reading achievement than those who do not.

In addition, having founded its first Science and Nature Center at Alum Rock Park, YSI is uniquely positioned to serve students in East San Jose, which is grossly underserved with nature-based science education and field trips. YSI is in a long-term partnership with the Alum Rock Elementary School District to deliver YSI programs to the Districts K-8 grade classes. Many of theses students will visit Alum Rock Park for the very first time on a YSI field trip, a park that is virtually blocks away from where they live.