NYCDOE Chancellor Klein to introduce innovative SU-sponsored summer program for New York City high school students

NYCDOE Chancellor Klein to introduce innovative SU-sponsored summer program for New York City high school studentsJuly 02, 2007Patrick Farrellpmfarrel@syr.edu

New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein, Dean Douglas Biklen of the Syracuse University School of Education and SU Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Studies Horace Smith will be on hand to officially launch an innovative educational partnership program between Syracuse University and the NYCDOE on Monday, July 9, at 8:30 a.m. at the High School for Leadership and Public Service, 90 Trinity Place in Manhattan. The program, SUmmer College in the City, is designed to give New York City public high school students a chance to experience college-level courses and earn college credit during the summer before their senior year.

The 29 participants in this year’s SUmmer College in the City program were selected from a field of applicants from the city’s public high schools who completed the eleventh grade with a cumulative average of 85 or better. The program offers six credits of college-level instruction and is taught at the High School for Leadership and Public Service in Lower Manhattan by SU School of Education professors and instructors from the Writing Program in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences.

In addition to the credit-bearing courses, the program includes a career-awareness element to encourage talented students to consider careers in the public service professions, including education. Over the course of SUmmer College in the City, students will learn about issues of youth, schooling, popular culture and leadership. And emphasis will be placed on improving their literacy capabilities and developing their college-level learning skills.

The program is in session from July 2-Aug. 10 (six weeks). Students attend classes four days a week (Monday-Thursday) from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Class days include four hours of instruction, plus time for meals and breaks.

SUmmer College in the City complements Chancellor Klein’s comprehensive reform program, “Children First,” which is transforming the New York public schools dramatically. SUmmer College in the City contributes to his vision by helping to improve student performance and by providing students with more and better choices. Klein has emphasized the important role that higher education plays in school improvement, from co-sponsorship of pre-college programs to professional development of staff and teacher preparation.

“Syracuse University Summer College has a strong 40-year history of introducing high school students to the realities and opportunities of higher education,” Smith says. “It’s exciting to see how students become more confident about their college choices in this type of pre-college experience where the structure and resources can support and inform students’ actions and decisions.”

While the immediate goal is to give New York City high school students opportunities to experience and succeed in higher education, SUmmer College in the City is also being developed as a pilot program to demonstrate how selective, private, research-oriented universities can partner with public, urban secondary schools to improve education outcomes for all students.

The High School for Leadership and Public Service, a small, themed public high school co-founded by Syracuse University, is hosting the program. The University has maintained a robust relationship with the High School for Leadership and Public Service through The Friends of Leadership, an influential New York City-based SU alumni club. “SUmmer College in the City is one way to help level the playing field for New York City kids with regard to getting a college education,” says Jane Present, Friends of Leadership chair.

“This is an incredible partnership between Syracuse University and the High School for Leadership,” says Frank Brancato, the high school’s principal. “The program represents a new level of support of public education in New York City by an elite, private university.”

“The Syracuse University School of Education is excited to have a leadership role in this important program,” says Biklen. “The SUmmer College program gives us an opportunity to further develop our long-term relationship with the High School for Leadership and Public Service, and we hope that many of these scholars will come to Syracuse to pursue careers in education.”