With the constant stress and heavy workloads students may face in high school, it can be easy to forget that there exist several paths for obtaining a secondary education.

The midpeninsula area is home to several education pathways, from taking specialized classes on a half-day schedule to being at a completely separate school. This article will break down a few of the options that are offered as an alternative to the traditional high school path.

Foothill Middle College

Foothill Middle College — an education program for juniors and seniors — is a path to take college classes early. While attending Middle College, students can take both high school and college classes at Foothill College, earn up to 60 transferable college credits and design their own schedule, according to their website.

“At Middle College, I come in, and I feel much more engaged as a student,” said Kaiden Luis, a Los Altos High senior attending Middle College. “I have time for my social life, and I have time for my passions.”

At Middle College, the classes and schedules are far more flexible than those in a traditional high school. The college application process is relatively similar to traditional high school, but is a lot smoother and less rushed, Luis said. Further, the team of teachers at Middle College serves as students’ counselors, allowing for a more personalized letter of recommendation.

Additionally, deciding to join Middle College is also not a permanent decision — students are able to transfer out after a semester if the experience isn’t for them, Luis said.

“I think Middle College has been a life changing experience,” Luis said. “It’s allowed me to grow a lot as a person [and] as a student.”

Freestyle

The Freestyle Academy of Communication Arts and Technology offers classes that allow students to gain mastery in their chosen artistic fields, whether that be animation, design or film. Through the academy, juniors and seniors within the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District can gain general skills in multi-media technology and communication, with a required class in English and digital media in addition to their chosen elective.

For 2025 graduate and former film student Julia Fung, Freestyle Academy was an invaluable setting that allowed her to have time to grow her film experience and become versed in her creative field.

“Being in that space allows me to change my mindset, to kind of flip my priorities,” Fung said. “I’ve always been doing some big creative things outside of school, but [Freestyle has] an environment where … everyone else around me is doing the exact same thing.”

Freestyle is designed as a two-year program beginning in junior year, with difficulty growing as students progress through the academy. Admissions, which utilize a lottery-based system, occur during February for those in 10th or 11th grade, accepting a total of 160 students. Students spend either the morning or afternoon at Freestyle, while the remainder of their day is spent at their high school in order to take required classes not offered at Freestyle, such as math or science.

“If you’re really creative and you don’t love school, I encourage it [applying to Freestyle],” Fung said.

College Now!

College Now! is a program created through the collaboration of the MVLA School District and Foothill College. Through earning transferable college credits, students can begin their college journey early while simultaneously meeting the high school graduation requirements.

“College is bigger, [and] they have more people specializing in different things,” junior and College Now! attendee Joyce Yang said. “They have much better tools.”

College Now! also uses a quarter system, which can allow more freedom for students to take their desired specialized classes after completing the required ones in the first two quarters, Yang said. In addition, after College Now!, students can apply to a four-year university as an incoming freshman with advanced standing, according to the official College Now! website.

“I feel like high school sometimes lacks passionate people,” Yang said. “But professors at community college … [are] really passionate about what they do.”