September 25, 2016

To whom it may concern:

It is with great pleasure that I write this letter of recommendation for Stephanie Hernandez. I
have known Stephanie since 9th grade when she was in my 9th grade seminar class. In addition,
she was also in my AP English Language class her junior year. She is an exceptional student who
works extremely hard and produces excellent work. Stephanie is a high achieving student- you
can tell by her grades. In AP Language, a very rigorous course, she earned As and Bs on
every essay and had either the top or the second to the top score on them - this in a class with
very motivated students. Her thinking and writing skills are very strong. I was particularly
impressed with two of her essays- the two most complex in the class- one in which she had to
define justice and defend the death penalty based on her definition and the other evaluating the
interplay between violence and nonviolence in the Civil Rights Movement. In each of these
essays she took a multi-faceted and nuanced view of the issues and presented excellent
arguments.Stephanie is highly qualified to flourish in a university setting. She has been a student
in the Neighborhood Academic Initiative since the 7th grade. This is a college access program in
conjunction with the University of Southern California. The students take their morning English
and math classes on the campus of USC and then return to school for the rest of the day. The
students take the most rigorous coursework. In addition, the students have school on Saturday,
tutoring after school as well as summer school. This is well over 250 hours of school a year on
top of a rigorous schedule of classes. I am fortunate to have many strong students in my classes.
I can say without reservation that Angelica is among the top and will make an excellent addition
to any university and she is poised to benefit greatly from that experience.
Most Sincerely,
Kate McFadden
Language Arts Teacher, National Board Certified