What is Making Waves ?
Launched more than 20 years ago by SPO Partners founder John H. Scully and the late Rev. Eugene Farlough, Making Waves is an educational preparation program that has seen unparalleled success in propelling children in underserved communities through the entire educational process to college graduation. The Making Waves Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Richmond, Calif., currently operates two large-scale, comprehensive after-school programs at the Making Waves Education Centers in Richmond and San Francisco and, in 2007, established in Richmond the first Making Waves Academy, a public charter school for students in grades five through eight. Making Waves to date has changed the lives of more than 1,000 students and plans to broaden its reach substantially through development of new education centers and charter schools in California and around the nation. Making Waves focuses on what research says works in helping low-income students succeed in school and college.