Project Report
| Apr 13, 2011
Spring 2011 Update
Dear SEE College Prep Supporters and Friends,
In our last update in January, we shared our success to date: through our first three successful summers, more than 1,000 low-income high school students have finished our program, improved their SAT scores an average of more than 200 points, and gone on to college - often as the first in their family to do so. We shared with you our excitement about opening our first office, hiring our first employees, raising our first million dollars, and building our first major school partnership.
In the past three months, more great things have happened:
- We hired three new exceptional people, bringing our full-time team to six people. Sean Simplicio, VP of Business Development, is directing all of our operations and fundraising work; Rance Graham-Bailey, Programs Associate, is doing a lot of heavy lifting in getting this summer's teaching and mentoring staff recruited and trained; and Greg Szoke, Operations Associate, is working to make sure we are operating as efficiently and effectively as possible.
- We attracted hundreds of applications from undergraduates for our summer mentor job openings, and made offers to fifty talented young people who will serve as terrific mentors to our students.
- We built new partnerships with schools and organizations across California such as Envision Public Schools, PUC Schools, and the Oakland Military Academy; we're close to finalizing partnerships with several others.
- We're exploring the creation of a new academic-year program that would be of benefit to potential school partners for which a summer program might not be feasible.
- Our work had advanced greatly with incredible gifts from Gene Sykes, Susan McCaw, Tim and Theresia Ranzetta, Jim Ukropina, and others.
What's next? We'll finalize our partnerships for the summer, make further revisions to our curriculum to better meet the needs of our students, and gear up for two weeks of training programs followed by eight weeks of summer program in which 1,000 to 1,500 students will participate in our 80-hour program and get the tools they need to successfully apply and go on to college.
To make this happen, we need your help. We hope you will consider supporting us by making a contribution to our work. Every donation truly does make a difference.
Thank you so much for your commitment to our work!
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