the school was founded by greg lippman and by jennifer andaluz, who became executive director. when it was granted a charter by san jose unified school district late in 1999, it was the first charter school in santa clara county; an elementary school opened the same year. after a summer program testing teaching concepts and forming the first group of students, the school opened in fall 2000 with 102 9th-grade students, split between two sites in downtown san jose, near the san jose state university campus: st. paul's methodist church (in 2007 the site of the launch of a charter elementary school, rocketship one) and a ywca. in each of the following three years, a grade and another approximately 100 freshman students were added. the school received considerable help in its formation from father mateo sheedy, pastor of sacred heart catholic church, and its advisory board and eventual board of trustees included then-mayor of san jose ron gonzales, robert caret, then-president of san jose state, tony ridder, ceo of knight ridder, then headquartered in san jose, and greg jamison, president of the san jose sharks hockey team. the mayor and the priest both spoke at the opening celebration on august 30, 2000.