campus partner(s)

New York University and Children's Aid Society

state(s)

NY

amount

$300,000

initiative

College-Community Connections: Partnerships

award date

02.2016

project director

David Kirkland & Gregory Denizard

Grant Summary

$300,000 over 36 months to support the program "EXCEL (Educational eXcellence Creating Empowered Leaders) at Writing, Thinking and Inquiry" for the students of Fannie Lou Hamer High School based in the South Bronx. This cohort-based intervention includes: intensive academic work and college preparation activities; access to college-level curricula and lectures; and exposure to a prestigious higher education institution, campus life and the surrounding neighborhood culture. For four weeks during the summer, 30-60 students participate in courses on NYU’s campus focusing on language and composition, digital literacy, and philosophy (ethics and logic). In the summer before their senior year, they also participate in a “boot camp” with college readiness programming managed by CAS staff. To prepare the next cohort of participants, high school juniors will also be invited to engage in visits and tours of NYU, participate in writing exercises and seminars, and get introduced to the college application process, concentrate on college selection, personal statements, SAT preparation, and financial aid literacy. NYU and CAS will work toward sustainability planning for the future of their collaboration.