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Origins of the Summit Scholars Program
As a test prep tutoring company, Summit has spent decades closely observing the college admissions landscape. In that time, we’ve developed and continue to perfect our methods, materials, and expertise to help our students reach their full potential.
We’ve also followed the evolving national conversation around fairness and have looked for ways to impact a broader population of students. This year, as we moved our tutoring services online to adapt to the pandemic, we saw an opportunity to connect with students with whom we would not ordinarily, and the Summit Scholars initiative was born.
The Summit Scholars program provides one-on-one, individualized SAT and ACT tutoring to students in underserved communities of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. We are pleased to announce that Summit selected 10 students to participate in this new program and we’ve begun working together.
To recruit high school students for this first Summit Scholars cohort, we tapped our employees’ connections with non-profits and public schools. We were able to rely on input from four organizations already working within the communities we sought to reach: Rosie’s Theater Kids and Columbia’s Double Discovery Center in New York City, Future 5 in Stamford, and Fenway High School in Boston.
Each of these four non-profits has a mission closely aligned with Summit’s own of helping students reach their full potential. Rosie’s Theater Kids enriches children’s lives through arts education. The Roger Lehecka Double Discovery Center supports first-generation college attendees from low-income households through and beyond college. Future 5 connects low-income, high-initiative students in Stamford, CT to the resources that help them successfully complete high school and transition to college or careers. And Fenway High School provides high-quality, personalized education to Boston students, over 90% of whom are people of color.
Thanks to these organizations, we have 10 exceptional students for the first Summit Scholars cohort. Each of these students has an extraordinary story, is driven and ambitious, and possesses potential that we are excited to help them reach. They are all stand-outs in their school communities, taking on leadership roles and inspiring both their teachers and their peers.
Let us introduce our Fall 2020 Summit Scholars:
Each Summit Scholar will receive the personalized service and care that all Summit students enjoy. Each will be provided their own set of our course books. They will have the opportunity to take practice tests whenever they need to, as often as they like. Most importantly, each Summit Scholar will receive fifteen, 90 minute sessions with one of our experienced tutors.
Emma C., Stamford, CT
Nathan D., Boston, MA
Pamela D., Boston, MA
Aleena G., New York, NY
Isaac H., Boston, MA
Hodan H., Boston, MA
Janine J., New York, NY
Marcus M., Boston, MA
Betzie R., New York, NY
Angel U., Stamford, CT
Congratulations to these deserving students. We look forward to working with each of you!
The Future of the Summit Scholars Program
Our plan for the Summit Scholars program is to award scholarships to two cohorts per year, aligned with the fall and spring test preparation seasons. We look forward to engaging more of our tutors to identify worthy programs and students, and to growing our reach within high-need communities. We are incredibly excited about this initiative and can’t want to see how it will impact our students in the coming years.
