RISE
The Girls Club of the Mid-Peninsula, 2400 Ralmar Avenue, East Palo Alto, CA 94303
About
RISE offers early learning, after-school programming, mentorship, and family engagement that include interactive classes with early literacy, songs, books, talking, play, and hands-on activities. The program includes after-school tutoring and one-on-one homework help, daily social-emotional learning through routines, journaling, and reflection, and project-based enrichment such as art, science, cooking, outdoor play, and dance. Older students can take part in leadership development by planning and co-leading activities for younger students, junior mentorship supporting the elementary cohort, community service and giving-back opportunities, life skills, team building, mindfulness activities, and mentor-designed enrichment lessons and projects.
• Ages: 0–18 years old
RISE’s Early RISErs program is its early learning program for infants and toddlers and their caregivers, and all Early RISErs families receive ASQ developmental screenings and individualized guidance in partnership with AbilityPath/Help Me Grow. At The Little Blue House, families with young children can access free programs, parent support, and early learning resources, including weekly speech therapy, storytime, literacy activities, and movement activities through trusted partners such as Family Connections (Babies in Bloom, Daddy & Me), Speech Goals, AbilityPath/Help Me Grow, and the EPA Library. The RISE Elementary After-School Program offers one-on-one tutoring and academic support, special-interest enrichment, and the Eastside Mentorship Program, which pairs RISE elementary students with high school mentors from Eastside College Preparatory School, and the Middle & High School Program continues support from the Elementary Program. RISE partners with children and families in East Palo Alto from birth through high school, serves 150 students each year, and supports more than 350 families through the Little Blue House Collaborative, with 100% of children and families identifying as BIPOC.
RISE is a not-for-profit organization that works closely with families and educators to provide children in East Palo Alto with a strong academic foundation and the self-confidence necessary to excel in life. RISE is committed to offering ongoing and collaborative support starting from infancy with the goal that children begin school at grade level and continue to succeed as the organization supports them through their educational journey, and it states that it is the organization’s desire that students will leave eager to inspire future generations to make a lasting impact on the community.
RISE is led by Founding Co-Directors Karen Hoopes and Sheryl Humble. Karen Hoopes has more than two decades of experience in education, child development, and community engagement, including 15 years in classrooms and school communities in Palo Alto and Sunnyvale as a math specialist, substitute teacher, and instructional aide, as well as four years as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for foster youth; she holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Computer Graphics from Chico State University and completed graduate coursework in Counseling Psychology at JFK University. Sheryl Humble has more than 20 years of experience supporting children, families, and school communities in Palo Alto and East Palo Alto, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Development with an Early Childhood Education emphasis from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and spent over a decade as an instructional aide and substitute teacher working with students from early childhood through upper elementary grades.
Families describe their experiences with RISE by saying that their children feel seen and supported, that their children have grown and become more independent and sure of themselves, and that RISE has supported their children with homework and growth in ways the families could not do alone, as reflected in testimonials from the McGee, Aquino, and Martinez-Luna families.
Last updated July 12, 2026.
• Ages: 0–18 years old
RISE’s Early RISErs program is its early learning program for infants and toddlers and their caregivers, and all Early RISErs families receive ASQ developmental screenings and individualized guidance in partnership with AbilityPath/Help Me Grow. At The Little Blue House, families with young children can access free programs, parent support, and early learning resources, including weekly speech therapy, storytime, literacy activities, and movement activities through trusted partners such as Family Connections (Babies in Bloom, Daddy & Me), Speech Goals, AbilityPath/Help Me Grow, and the EPA Library. The RISE Elementary After-School Program offers one-on-one tutoring and academic support, special-interest enrichment, and the Eastside Mentorship Program, which pairs RISE elementary students with high school mentors from Eastside College Preparatory School, and the Middle & High School Program continues support from the Elementary Program. RISE partners with children and families in East Palo Alto from birth through high school, serves 150 students each year, and supports more than 350 families through the Little Blue House Collaborative, with 100% of children and families identifying as BIPOC.
RISE is a not-for-profit organization that works closely with families and educators to provide children in East Palo Alto with a strong academic foundation and the self-confidence necessary to excel in life. RISE is committed to offering ongoing and collaborative support starting from infancy with the goal that children begin school at grade level and continue to succeed as the organization supports them through their educational journey, and it states that it is the organization’s desire that students will leave eager to inspire future generations to make a lasting impact on the community.
RISE is led by Founding Co-Directors Karen Hoopes and Sheryl Humble. Karen Hoopes has more than two decades of experience in education, child development, and community engagement, including 15 years in classrooms and school communities in Palo Alto and Sunnyvale as a math specialist, substitute teacher, and instructional aide, as well as four years as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for foster youth; she holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Computer Graphics from Chico State University and completed graduate coursework in Counseling Psychology at JFK University. Sheryl Humble has more than 20 years of experience supporting children, families, and school communities in Palo Alto and East Palo Alto, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Development with an Early Childhood Education emphasis from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and spent over a decade as an instructional aide and substitute teacher working with students from early childhood through upper elementary grades.
Families describe their experiences with RISE by saying that their children feel seen and supported, that their children have grown and become more independent and sure of themselves, and that RISE has supported their children with homework and growth in ways the families could not do alone, as reflected in testimonials from the McGee, Aquino, and Martinez-Luna families.
Last updated July 12, 2026.
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