Contra Costa College, in San Pablo, California, is the west campus of the Contra Costa Community College District. It is part of the California community colleges system, one of the three college systems in California.
History
The college was founded as West Contra Costa Junior College in 1949, with the first classes held in the spring of 1950 at a temporary location in the shuttered Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, California. In 1957, a permanent campus was opened on Mission Bell Drive in downtown San Pablo.
Several premier programs call the college home, including:
- The Center for Science Excellence, which works to increase the participation of students of color and women in the science, technology, engineering and math. Many students in the program go on to top-tier universities and have earned exceptional internship offers to research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
- Associate Degree Nursing Program, which has seen its graduates pass the state NCLEX exam at rates of 95 to 100% in the last 10 years.
- High-Performance Computing Center, a pioneering program which teaches the emerging science of computer clustering
- The Advocate, the college's nationally-honored weekly newspaper, which has won 14 National Newspaper Pacemaker Awards since 1990.
- The Contra Costa College Speech and Debate Team, which is one of the top community college teams in the nation.
The college is flanked by Abella Center to the south.
Middle College High School
The college campus is also home to Middle College High School, whose students take college classes in addition to regular high school courses. The high school is part of the West Contra Costa Unified School District.
Notable graduates
- Courtney Anderson, NFL tight end
- Benny Barnes, NFL cornerback
- Robert Campbell - former member of the state Assembly (1980-1996)
- Chris Dixon, first indoor football quarterback to throw 500 touchdowns
- John Kiffmeyer, (also known as Al Sobrante), the original drummer for the punk rock band Green Day
- Joe Koontz, NFL wide receiver
- Pumpsie Green, MLB first black player to play for the Boston Red Sox
- Jim Landis, MLB center fielder
- Chris Roberson, Philadelphia Phillies player
- Travis Williams, NFL running back
- Jeff Gerstmann, video game journalist (attended)
References
External links
- Contra Costa College - official site
- Middle College High School
- The Advocate - student newspaper
