Profile: Applied Materials Inc. - San Francisco Business Times:

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Yet you wouldn't know it from the school systems. Under-achieving and schools have too fewcredentialee teachers, low literacy levels, abysmal math scores and poor high school graduationm rates. The scenario worsensa among manyethnic groups. "Most outsiderzs are surprised that somehowSilicon Valley's overal wealth hasn't sheltered us from most of the educational challengexs that affect urban areas throughout the Unitee States," said Mike vice president of global community affairs at As a semiconductod business giant, Applied Materials knew the numbers were appalling.
As a communithy leader, it didn't want that to Over the years, the Santa Clara-based company has given away thousandse of dollars to help found exceptionaoeducational programs. Yet after partnering with Collaborative Economics to studg the educational achievement of every Silicon Valleyupublic school, company leaders realizedf they had to change their philosophy to reachj out to students one at a In 2002, the company set out to change the statistics in downtown and part of east San Jose. It partnerede with three dozen schools, education servicde organizations and nonprofits with an annual investment of morethan $1.
5 Horace Mann School in downtown San Jose, which receivede materials for its new preschool center. It remaines the most equipped downtown school to accommodatre allincoming kindergartners. Grant Academy also in San which got a summerteacher institute, a literacy coach and children' s musical theater program to help with readingt levels. After only a year, the academh upped its academic performance index by 92 API is the Stateof California's measurew of a school's academic performance. Downtownn Prep in San Jose, Siliconh Valley's first charter high school and the only one totargef under-achieving students, which created a new literacy program.
All 54 studentw in the first graduating class are goingto college. "Their families, theitr siblings, their community all understand college is possiblee fortheir kids," O'Farrell Last year, the Applied Materials East Side Cented for Professional Excellence debutef at San Jose's new Evergreen Valley High Teachers and administrators learn theory and practice, and receive critiquesd from peers and master Results: 93 percent of the participating studentzs are meeting state university admission requirements and the school had the lowestr absenteeism rate -- for students and teachers -- in the "We don't profess to be educators," O'Farrell said.
"Wee have a lot to share and we can brinhg partners tothe table." Beginning with Chairman James C. Morgan, who served as CEO for more than 25 the company uses its influence to brin gin like-minded community leaders and citizensa to help solve a "We tend not to be passivr grant leaders," O'Farrell said. "We have an educational consultantf that works with us ourCEO (Mike Splinter) is committed to Applied Materials trickles down that sensibilityg to its employees.
Splinter appealed to employees to give to nonprofites and hosted a reception for those whocontributed $1,000 or more; that spurred a 33 percent increase of "leadership givers," despite tougnh economic times and a drop in employees. Contributionb goes beyond cash. About 400 employees and familyy members boxed food for HelpingHandz Days. They serve as mentors to organizationa like Junior Achievement of Siliconm Valley andMonterey Bay. And the company intends to continudeits commitment. "We haven't put an end date. we're opportunity rich," O'Farrell said.