About Willow Education

Willow Education is a California 501(c)(3) non-profit, public benefit organization dedicated to promoting high quality education in Northern California. The Willow Education team consists of professional scientists, engineers, and educators who are interested in improving the middle and high school education in the Bay Area. They have been teaching, tutoring, and mentoring students for the past decade and have come together in order to serve the community better. Willow Education’s approach is based on the conviction that in our modern society, math and science education are the two essential tools for improving society’s knowledge base and adaptability to the fast pace of ever-changing technological advancements.

In 2001, the future Willow team began using its extensive connections with major Bay Area universities in order to organize volunteer tutors for middle and high schools in Oakland. The tutors, many of them graduate students at UC Berkeley and Stanford University, have helped students in all academic subjects with an emphasis on, math, science, and technology. They have also organized and implemented a joint program with the Oakland Public Library to provide tutoring for low-achieving students.

In 2003, Willow Education was founded in 2003 by a group of scientists dedicated to contribute to our society by means of science education. It was based on the belief that in our modern society, mathematics and science education are the two essential tools for improving society’s knowledge base and adaptability to the fast pace of ever-changing technological advancements.

With graduates of highly-ranked universities such as UC Berkeley, Stanford, UC Davis, and USC on our board, Willow integrates its philosophy into our educational system by different projects:

The Willow Education team was awarded a Public Charter School Start-Up Grant of $450,000 by the California Department of Education in June 2003. With this grant, Willow Education opened its first charter school, Bay Area Technology School, Oakland, (BayTech-Oakland), www.baytechschool.org, in Fall 2004. BayTech-Oakland has been serving socio-economically disadvantaged students (78% of the students are qualified for free or reduced lunch) and has achieved 96% attendance rate in 2004-2005 school year. With the help of more than $200,000 donations, the school built one of the best state-of-the art Science and Computer labs in the district.

At present, the Willow Education team has been awarded second Public Charter School Start-Up Grant of $405,000 by the California Department of Education for its new prospective charter school.

Vision

The vision of Willow Education is:

• To prepare students for academic success.
• To enable students to have a broad spectrum of options for their future endeavors.
• To prepare students to be responsible and productive citizens.

Mission

The mission of Willow Education Schools is to serve students in grades 6 through 8 in the Bay Area by:

• Preparing them to become responsible, educated citizens who have the skills and understanding to participate and work productively in a diverse, multicultural community.
• Enabling them to become literate in math, science, and technology, self-motivated life-long learners equipped with communication and presentation skills indispensable for the technologically oriented global environment of the 21st century.
• Providing a standards-based curriculum with emphasis on math, science, and technology, supported by state-of-the-art science and computer labs.
• Providing academic and recreational after-school activities with the aim of enabling students to attain a healthy body, a healthy mind and the disciplinary and behavioral standards necessary for their future endeavors.
• Providing opportunities for parental involvement.

A significant feature of Willow Education schools is to utilize its university connections to enhance the instruction and learning in school.  These connections will provide college tutors, access to university labs and events, and guest lecturers who are important figures in a range of disciplines. It is the responsibility of Willow Education to help the school fulfill its mission in cooperation with the parents and the community. Thus, Willow Education will support its schools in ways that ensure optimal conditions for the achievement and continuing growth and development of each student.

Board Member Biographies

Baris Cagdaser, Ph.D. (President)
Dr. Cagdaser received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from University of California at Berkeley.  During his studies, Dr. Cagdaser taught a graduate level engineering class at UC Berkeley. His involvement in middle school education started with volunteering as a mathematics and science tutor in the after school program of the Oakland Public Library. Dr. Cagdaser has served as the Treasurer of Willow Education since 2003. His main responsibilities include school finances, budgeting, supervising, and reporting as well as long-term financial planning. He is currently employed at InvenSense as a senior integrated circuit designer.

Sefa Isik, M.S. (Vice President)
Mr. Isik has spent most of his Engineering carrier as project engineer and project manager designing and managing industrial scale engineering systems. His primary responsibilities are designing the system per applicable code requirements, meeting client expectations, meeting budget and time requirements. Sefa Isik is currently employed at Engineering Consulting firm in Monterey, CA as a project manager. He holds BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering. Throughout his college education Mr. Isik volunteered in developing and providing tutoring both in individual and group levels and developed educational materials, problem solution kits to provide assistance in understanding complex issues. He is currently working on developing training curriculum, and services to the technicians and plant managers working in industrial refrigeration facilities.

Mehmet Sen, Ph.D. (Vice President)
Dr. Sen received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer and Information Science from Syracuse University, NY. He was both Research and Graduate Teaching Assistant in several graduate-level classes. At the same time, he helped high school students in preparing for SATs, and in A+ programs in computer science. He applied the results of his Ph.D. studies to education to improve course management. After graduation, he worked as an Adjunct Professor at the Computer Engineering Department of Santa Clara University, CA. Later, he worked as a full-time faculty member at the Computer Science Department of Wiley College, TX. Currently, he works as a Senior Software Architect and Technical Project Manager in a high-tech company.

Suleyman Bahceci, Ph.D. (Treasurer)
Dr. Bahceci received his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas, Austin. He also holds a B.S. degree in Science Education. Dr. Bahceci co-founded Willow Education, a nonprofit public benefit corporation dedicated to promoting science and technology education in public schools. Prior to his experience in California, Dr. Bahceci was a member of a development team for charter schools in Texas.  He co-founded of a math and science focused public charter school in Austin, TX and later served as a member of the school board. He is currently employed as a Research Scientist in a biotechnology company in South San Francisco, CA.

Ayhan Mutlu (Secretary)
Ayhan Mutlu has received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Santa Clara University, CA in 2004. From 1999 to 2005, he has also held engineering positions at Intel Corporation. Currently, he is a Member of Technical Staff at Extreme DA Corporation. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering at Santa Clara University. Dr. Mutlu has been actively involved in teaching since 1997. He has organized and taught several undergraduate and graduate level courses at Clemson University, SC and Santa Clara University, CA. Dr. Mutlu has also helped organizing a Japanese student exchange program between Santa Clara University and Kanagawa Institute of Technology. He has published over 20 technical papers in several academic journals and conferences. Dedication to education is a great part of his personal endeavor in life. He strongly believes that educating the next generation is the only way to guarantee a brighter future.

School Site Advisory Commitee

The School Site Advisory Committee (SSAC) is an advisory body evaluating Willow's schools operations. SSAC is focused on issues unique to the school and provides feedback to the school administration and the Board. The SSAC has a key role in communication among all the interested bodies within the school community. The SSAC may consist of: