City College of San Francisco – John Adams Campus

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this place. My God, I had some good memories with this place. I went to this school sometime around September-​October 2003 until about March 2004. I know what you’re thinking, «damn! That’s almost ten years ago man!» That’s exactly right. Almost ten years later, I still haven’t forgotten the good memories I had from this place. I went to Galileo High School (where OJ Simpson went, for those of you keeping track :)), and met my highschool counselor (who I really abhorred to the point where I called her a «bitch» and had to write a letter apologizing to her) towards the end of my stay at Galileo. She told me that I wasn’t going to be able to graduate on time due to a lack of credits. I wasn’t doing that well in Galileo for a variety of reasons, including being bullied by a piece of shit. Ultimately, I did what my brother did, and transferred here in order to obtain a high school diploma equivalent. I thank God that San Francisco had a dropout program for students like me in this institution for a second chance, because I needed it. Looking back at it, nearly every day was heaven. I had a few formal classes, but the majority of my time was in independent study. I never experienced independent study before I came here. It was essentially, if you wanted a high school diploma, you had to get a certain amount of credits, so the harder you worked and passed test after test after test, the faster you were done with the entire program. I would spend hours in the independent study room, studying for a test, then I’d check in with an older Caucasian man (who I hope is still alive) and he’d give me the test. I had to get over 75% on each test in order to pass and move on to the next one, I believe. I filled pages of percentage marks on my colored papers that allowed me to move on.
Why did I like John Adams Campus though? I loved it for many reasons. Firstly, unlike at Galileo, I wasn’t bullied here, which I find it ironic considering that there was a higher percentage of delinquents going here than at Galileo. Anyways, I kept to myself and hung out with two people I knew from before and even though it was full of sketchy high school dropout students (high school dropouts like me), for the six months that I spent here, nobody bothered or harassed me. Independent study was also a big one. If you worked hard, you were able to graduate even earlier than your peers in other high schools. During the day, you could leave any time, I didn’t have to check in with any teacher or security walking the halls or anybody like I had to at Galileo. Here they treated you as a responsible individual, not like a kid. I believe they had lunch break time, where the independent study room would clear out for lunch, and I would always go to the corner store down the block at Home Service Market, not Amitis Deli-​Café which was the closest corner store to the campus. Amitis was generally packed with people and I didn’t want to deal with the prices or the wait over there. Home Service Market was generally empty of students each day I went there. I’d then take my lunch, cross the street and sit on the stairs of building 443 Central Avenue (tried to look it up via Google Maps to be sure). It’s the stairs closest to the where the 24 bus stop was/​still is. And I’d eat my lunch looking around and observing the environment and the people in the Central Coffee Tea and Spice café (which is still there!) diagonally from the stairs I sat on. This was my normal routine there. I got to study in peace, go to school in peace, eat in peace, go home when I wanted to (which was a major thing for me) in peace. What more could any student want? I had more good memories over there, but I’ll spare you the details (this review is long enough as it is).
I want to point out though, I remember my friend and I having a conversation about other students who were attending John Adams and yet were doing the same things they were doing in the first schools they attended, which landed them in this campus. He said, these people dropped out of school, they’re getting a second chance, and yet they’re doing the same things that landed them here in the first place. Me? I went in, in the campus in the fall, left in the spring, a total of about six months. The sad thing was I didn’t attend my own graduation. I don’t really know why. Maybe I didn’t regard it as a legitimate high school, because it was a dropout one. Maybe I just wanted to move on. Nevertheless I’m thankful that this was here for me when I needed it. I just wish my present-​self could talk to myself during that time, when I attended this campus. I’d give myself advice on how to progress with college more efficiently and effectively and what to do and not do in life.

This campus has been my school for a few classes.
Parking sucks!!! if you cant find parking in the lot, you gotta find street parking. and that itself can be a challenge with the (sh_​tty) street cleaning that happens various times of the week, that dont do much to the the streets. I’ve seen parking police riding around handing out tickets to anyone they can.
The building seems to be outdated for the most part, but CCSF is trying to renovate it. which is good… better than another abandoned building.

CCSF’s John Adams campus is home to NAEYC accredited John Adams-​Orfalea Family Center (funded by Kinko’s ex-​owners) for Infants/​Toddlers, Preschoolers and their families. This is one of the best preschools in town with staff who are the quintessence of quality in theory and practice. I have worked there and they definitely deserve all the resources they can get by Governor Schwarzenegger.
Aside from the OFC, I have taken a Residential Services and Specialist Training course there and couldn’t have been happier with the coursework and the teacher. I haven’t had a chance to meet with staff as my primary location is the Ocean Campus, but there’s always going to be at least one temperamentally cold person-​usually in Administration (that’s where they tend to dwell).
I also enjoy the dilapidated, Winchester Mystery House, haunted quality of the building. They are in the process of renovating-​which will appeal to people who’re into like, brand-​new, pretty things, with like, no history. Parking in the lot or on the street is based on timing and luck. There’s a couple of good eateries and coffee shops around to satiate studiers.