NPS expands program to all comprehensive high schools beginning 2021-2022

Students now back at school have even more access to opportunity. All comprehensive high schools in Newark will offer a proven after-school program – Pathways to College – that helps high-potential students of color develop the critical thinking skills and habits of mind to make achieving a college education an attainable goal. Pathways uniquely selects high school Scholars on the basis of potential, not necessarily proven performance.

Newark is serving as the model for collaboration between Pathways to College and other districts, having made its largest commitment to the research-based program in support of the Newark Board of Education’s 10-year strategic plan. The comprehensive high schools are Barringer Academy of S.T.E.A.M., Central, East Side, Malcolm X Shabazz, Weequahic and West Side. Students in these schools are welcome to apply through Oct. 1.

Over the years, Pathways has prepared more than 3,300 NPS students for college success. Last year, Newark’s Pathways graduates maintained the organization’s historic record of 100% college acceptance, despite the challenges of the pandemic.

“At Pathways, we find and nurture the inherent talents, skills and brilliance of children of color, including many students who have never been recognized for their ability to contribute to society,” said Judith Berry Griffin, founder and president of Pathways to College. “Expanding our program in Newark’s comprehensive high schools reflects this administration’s commitment to college readiness to students who have been marginalized for generations yet remain hopeful.”

“Pathways to College recognized very early on the critical need to make the comprehensive high schools competitive with the magnets and charters,” said Roger León, superintendent, Newark Public Schools. “Given the results that Pathways to College has shown it can achieve, I am confident that expanding this program’s reach will help the Newark Board of Education make a significant shift to a district that is also measured by real outcomes – how our students actually perform with respect to college and early career achievement.”

The School-Based Scholars Program will meet twice weekly afterschool at each school for a minimum of four hours with leadership from highly effective teachers who are carefully identified and selected to promote the organization’s specific methods.

Contact: Alyssa Alston, Director of Communications

communications@pathwaystocollege.org

Pathways to College is an afterschool program that provides students with the information, guidance and support needed to become the best high school students, college applicants and college students they can be.