BGHS and LIU to Launch New College Academy

For the first time at Boys and Girls High School, incoming freshmen will get a chance to enroll in the school's new College Academy, a program in which students can earn college credits while still in high school.

College Academy was formed in May, after BGHS and Long Island University together won a $405,000 Smart Scholars Early College High School grant from the State Education Department to start the program, which begins in the 2011/2012 academic school year. The LIU/BGHS College Academy is accepting applications now.

The College Academy targets those students who show strong academic potential and a desire to excel, but who historically have not had access to college.

Another key requirement is a commitment on the part of each student's parents to support their child in their development through the four-year program. The grant for the early matriculation program also helps parents by reducing the overall cost of attending college and its expenses.

The LIU Brooklyn Campus plans to work with 100 BGHS students in in-school mentoring sessions and weekend and summer college-readiness programs, giving counselors the chance to address students' collective learning needs more effectively over the course of the four years of their high school career.

Students who complete the program successfully will graduate with a Regents Diploma and at least 20 transferable college credits.

"Our partnership with Long Island University brings use one giant step closer to legitimizing our claim that at “We Make Scholars” at Boys and Girls High School," said Bernard Gassaway, principal at Boys and Girls High School.

"We put a huge amount of stock in preparing our students for college. Our relationship with LIU allows our students to experience college in real terms. Fundamentally, the Early Scholars Program will benefit all of our students."

Incoming Boys and Girls High School freshmen can apply for the program: The College Academy will accept 50 freshmen to begin high school in September as Smart Scholars. Another 25 freshmen will be selected for the program in September 2012, followed by 25 more freshmen in 2013.

The College Academy directors will be looking for student candidates who can provide letters of recommendation from their their teachers and counselors. They will also interview each student and their parents.

“We will be creating an intensive learning environment that helps students who have been raised in places where the idea of attending college is often a mirage,” said LIU Brooklyn Campus Provost Gale Stevens Haynes, Esq.. “The Smart Scholars program targets student populations that have disproportionately low
high school graduation rates.”

Gassaway hopes that students who may not have considered Boys and Girls H.S. before, many now consider it as a choice.

"We are optimistic that students and parents who embrace rigor and excellence will begin to gravitate towards the 'High,'" Gassaway said. "We are accepting applications from students who may want to change their minds about their current high school assignments for September. We expect that D.O.E. officials will cooperate with us".

For more information on the LIU/BGHS College Academy or to download an application, contact Bridget Carrington at bcarrington@schools.nyc.gov.