SAN DIEGO -- Going to college is a dream that many parents from Gompers Middle School hope to live vicariously through their children. A push to make Gompers a charter school, in partnership with University of California, San Diego, could give those students the best chance for a higher education, 10News reported.

Many of the school's students come from low-income families without college degrees, which is why an opportunity to team up with UCSD as a charter school is offering new hope.

Gompers Middle School Principal Vince Riveroll said, "UCSD can provide so many more resources than we currently have right now. Plus, they have a proven track record of a charter school on the UCSD campus, the Preuss School."

Riveroll said the school has until Friday to collect 500 signatures from area parents to support the charter-school initiative.

"We've been calling people on the phone. (I called) over 300 people myself," said Gompers parent Clarissa Lopez.

Lopez is among a handful of parents taking the charter campaign door-to-door and collecting dozens of signatures by reaching out to Spanish-speaking families.

Collecting signatures for these women is not an easy task. For every signature they get, they say there are two of three others who refuse to sign the petition, 10News reported.

Those who don't sign say they need more information. But, school leaders said the bottom line is that students will be better prepared for college and have a better chance to succeed.

It would give them a better opportunity to experience what it means to be on a college path, and what it means to have a university supporting them, and a whole community supporting them," Riveroll said.

If Gompers were to become a charter school, UCSD would provide support and eventually assume management of the school. Benefits include having 150 college student tutors on campus everyday.