The following site directors will lead NYGEAR UP programs that were selected through a competitive process to work with schools in eligible districts to provide support services to a statewide cohort of students. They will follow this cohort from grade 7 until their first year of postsecondary education. These site directors are dedicated to changing outcomes and increasing student achievement and opportunity for NYGEAR UP students.
NYGEAR UP 2014-2020 Cohort
Lehman College – CUNY
Bruce Irushalmi
email: [email protected]
The Bronx Institute at Lehman College of the City University of New York, in collaboration with a host of community partners - Stonybrook University, Vassar College, The New York Botanical Garden, The Wildlife Conservation Society, Con Edison, Anti-Defamation League, and BronxNet - will follow and provide services to a cohort of students as they proceed from grade 7 to high school graduation. Services include: tutoring and homework assistance; mentoring; counseling; community service; college tours; STEM awareness sessions; CUNY admissions test prep; and PSAT/SAT coaching and prep.
Long Island University
Oluwaseyi Adeoye
email: [email protected]
Long Island University (LIU Brooklyn), in collaboration with MS 61, IS 68, MS 484, Clara Barton High School, Good Shepherd Services, and Community Mediation Services, will follow and provide services to seventh graders living in central and downtown Brooklyn until they graduate from high school. The goals of LIU Gear Up will be to support these students so they will be motivated to graduate from high school and attend college by helping improve their academic and study skills and engaging their parents/guardians in meaningful ways into the child’s educational process. These goals will be accomplished by: workshops and preparatory courses; mentoring; summer enrichment activities; college readiness activities; counseling; and professional development.
Nassau Community College
Jan R. Figueira
email: [email protected]
phone: 917.882.4163
Nassau Community College, in partnership with Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School, will work with a cohort of seventh grade students as they progress toand through the 12th grade at Hempstead High School, with the goal of significantly increasing the number of students prepared to enter and succeed in post-secondary education. Modeled after best practices, feedback-rich program services will be offered throughout the academic year, both before and after school, and during the school day. Program services will involve: academic immersion and support; counseling and college preparation; character education and cultural awareness; family engagement; STEM; college tours; professional development; and mentors.
St. John’s University
Alexandra Marquez
email: [email protected]
phone: 718-990-2532
St. John’s University (SJU) plans to provide comprehensive, strategic interventions for low-income and predominantly minority, potential first-generation college students. They, their families, and schools will benefit from intensive support over the six-year grant cycle to ensure their readiness to enter and succeed in college. Working collaboratively with NYGEAR UP State and local partners, to provide services to students, parents and teachers that are aligned with the goals and objectives of the NYGEAR UP Program. Most importantly, project services will encourage participants “to have high expectations, stay in school and study hard, and go to college”.
State University of New York at Buffalo
Dr. Nathan Daun-Barnett
email: [email protected]
phone: 716-645-1096
In partnership with Buffalo City Public Schools (BPS), the University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education (GSE), and Say Yes to Education Buffalo (SYB), we propose a comprehensive intervention to work with a cohort of seventh graders, following them through eighth grade and into eight comprehensive high schools in Buffalo. Our goals throughout the six years of the intervention are to increase academic preparation for college, improve students’ chances for high school graduation, prepare them to plan for college and career, cultivate their postsecondary aspirations and plans, and help them to find the right fit as they transition to college. We are also committed for providing students the support they need to prepare for college success.
Urban League of Rochester
Taurean Uthman
email: [email protected]
phone: 585-325-6530 EXT. 3034
The Urban League of Rochester, in collaboration with the Rochester City Schools District, seeks to provide a cohort of students, as they proceed from grades seven to twelve, with the academic support and skills in the academic core subjects to prepare them for rigorous school courses through relevant and engaging hands-on learning experiences. Students will also be involved in a mentoring program that will engage them in series of 16 three-hour interactive workshops and other activities in order to help develop their potential to serve in diverse leadership roles in Rochester area schools as well as the broader metropolitan Rochester community. In addition, students will receive mentoring, tutoring, counseling, and college readiness workshops.
Yonkers City School District
Angela Arias
email: [email protected]
phone: 914-376-8068
In partnership with the Nepperhan Community Center (NCC), CareerVisions LTD.(CV), Yonkers Partners in Education (YPIE), Manhattan College (MC), Interactive Health, and LLC (IH), the YPS NYGEAR UP Program aims to provide seamless intensive supports to a cohort of students, beginning in seventh grade and following them until graduation from high school. In addition, the YPS GEAR UP team will work with HESC and its New York State partners to provide a bevy of essential services that are critical to increase college access, readiness, persistence and college match.