LIU Brooklyn and Boys and Girls High School Team Up To Produce "Smart Scholars"

The Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus has recently announced that it has been awarded a $405,000 Smart Scholars Early College High School grant to create a college academy at Boys and Girls High School in Bedford-Stuyvesant. A team from Long Island University and Boys and Girls High School, led by its Principal Bernard Gassaway, developed this initiative.

The program will be available to 100 students at Boys and Girls High School. The rigorous academic program will include high school and college-level coursework.

Students in the program will also benefit from increased academic and co-curricular support, ensuring that they obtain a Regents diploma and are prepared for college. The Smart Scholars “dual enrollment” program not only creates a seamless transition for entering college, but also reduces tuition costs for students and families.

Incoming Boys and Girls High School freshmen can apply for the program this summer. 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.

“We’re looking for candidates with academic potential, as evidenced by recommendations from their teachers and counselors and through interviews with the students and their parents,” Provost Gale Stevens Haynes, Esq said.  “We believe this program will create intellectual communities among students and their parents and educators. We are excited about this partnership.”