August 19, 2022
“Persists” team builds new initiatives to support post-graduation success
More than 100 college-bound City Schools students convened on the Johns Hopkins University campus for the first-ever City Schools Persistence Summit in May. They were joined by students and faculty experts from Hopkins and local public colleges — to offer tips on how to thrive on campus and manage the expectations of college life.
“It was a great experience for me,” says London Hursey, a senior at The Reach! Partnership School. “I enjoyed the classes and meeting different students, while also gaining the different perspectives of college.”
Students packed seminars on navigating the first year of college and understanding financial aid as well as an “application hub,” where students heard tips and advice on the college application and choice process. Finally, a student panel consisting of City Schools graduates attending local state colleges and universities hosted a Q&A session, answering questions on everything from dining hall plans to gen ed requirements.
“All my students thought the summit was insightful and really geared towards preparing them for campus life,” says Kenyatta Austin, a City Schools’ post secondary advisor, who works district-wide as well as in The Reach! Partnership School. “We can’t make assumptions about what students already know or expect, especially first-generation college students. For example, many students didn’t know that they would have to prepare a FAFSA form every year. There’s a whole mindset that goes into preparing for, and succeeding in, college that students have to cultivate as early as possible.”
The summit is the latest initiative created by the City Schools Persists team, launched in 2021. A division of the College and Career Readiness Office, Persists supports City Schools students (and graduates) ages 18-24 in navigating and finding success in post-secondary pathways such as college, job training programs, the military, or going directly into the workforce.
“Our role is to ensure our graduates are empowered to pursue a choice-filled life earning family-sustaining wages,” says Dr. Jacqueline Pendergrass, Manager of City Schools Persists. “That’s how we define success. We’re not ‘done’ with our students when they walk across the stage at graduation. We have to be there for them as they pursue their college and career goals.”
The Persists team also manages the City Schools Navigator Center, a virtual and in-person resource for graduates to meet with trained career coaches (which was profiled in a Progress Report story in 2021).
Now the team is hard at work on a bigger project: building relationships with local colleges and universities to place specially trained staff on campus to serve as a resource for City Schools graduates.
“We are in a very unique situation with so many of our students attending college in-state and even in-city,” says Pendergrass. “We have plenty of survey data from graduates about the ups and downs they encounter in college and where they think they could use the most help. We want to be guardrails on campus. Students need the freedom to find themselves and become adults in college, but if things don’t go as planned, we can be there for them and get them back on track.”