Melissa Bailey Photo
Melton and Mayor John DeStefano.
As it prepares for its third year handing out college scholarships to city kids, New Haven Promise is cleaning house internally — and expanding its reach beyond just top-performing students.
That news emerged Wednesday at a press conference at Metropolitan Business Academy on Water Street.
Officials gathered there to announce an experimental new scholarship called “Passport to Promise” that will be available to 20 seniors who don’t quite have the grades to qualify for full Promise scholarships.
Patricia Melton, the executive director, also revealed in an interview that she has laid off two staffers and plans to have an entirely new five-person staff in place by the end of June.
The shakeup comes as Promise prepares to send its third class of New Haven high school seniors off to college with scholarship money. Promise, which is paid for by Yale University and the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, offers up to free tuition at in-state public colleges and universities to city kids who keep up good attendance, do community service, and stay out of trouble. The program, founded in November 2009, also requires students to have a 3.0 grade point average in high school. Last year, the scholarship reached 123 of about 1,000 graduating seniors.
Melton said in her travels through city schools, she heard a lot of feedback that Promise was reaching only a top group of kids — and missing an opportunity to help other hard-working students with slightly lower GPAs.
“We heard you, and we’re answering that call,” Melton announced Wednesday.
She unveiled an experiment to help students who finish high school with a GPA between 2.5 and 2.9. Promise is inviting students in that category to apply for a limited, competitive scholarship. The “Passport to Promise” will give 20 students a $1,000 scholarship for college in their freshman year. If they make it through freshman year with a 2.0 GPA, they’ll qualify for a full Promise scholarship for the rest of college.
To score a “passport,” students must write an essay on “why we need to invest in you” and send in an letter of recommendation, by May 31, Melton said.
Mayor John DeStefano, who came up with the idea for Promise, and got Yale to commit up to $4 million per year to pay for it, currently sits on the board. He said in the two years Promise has been giving out scholarships, “we’ve learned something” — that some students don’t get good grades freshman or sophomore years, but then work hard and finish school with a strong trajectory. And that those students should get a chance to take part in Promise, too, he said.
“We were setting the hurdle a little too high” by requiring a 3.0 GPA, said Yale President Rick Levin, who sits on the Promise board. He said the board would review the “passport” program after the first year and consider expanding it.
Wednesday’s adjustment represents a second guideline change since the scholarship program started. The Promise board also voted to lower the threshold for college grades from 2.5 to 2.0 during freshman year so that more kids could keep their scholarships.
Assistant Superintendent Garth Harries recalled that when he was an undergraduate at Yale College, “one of the most valuable experiences” was getting a D in a Constitutional law class. “I picked myself up,” learned from the experience, and went on to “a very good law school” (Stanford). He said Passport to Promise aims to recognize the importance not just of high performance in class, but of “personal development” — the resilience and other non-cognitive skills that help kids succeed in college.
“It’s not just about where you are — it’s about where you are going,” he said.
Promise has not yet determined how many scholarships it is giving out for next fall. That will depend in part on students’ GPAs at the end of their high school year. So far, 486 members of the Class of 2013 applied, a 38 percent increase over the prior year, according to Melton—click here for a demographic breakdown.
Melton said she does now know how many current seniors would be eligible for the “passport.” There are 10 at Metropolitan Business Academy — including Crystal Ashley and Alexander Chow-Yen (pictured). Both said they started high school with high grades freshman and sophomore years, then lost focus junior year, falling below a 3.0.
Alexander said he got wrapped up in football and track and stopped doing homework. Crystal said she did so well freshman and sophomore years that she “slacked off” the next year and lost focus. Senior year, she said, she watched fellow students steam forward on the pathway to college.
“I don’t want to be the one of the ones left” behind, Crystal said. She’s heading to Albertus Magnus College in the fall; a $1,000 scholarship would reduce the amount her family will have to borrow to pay for tuition, she said. Alexander is deciding between University of Hartford and Western New England University. Promise would only apply if he chooses U‑Hart. Promise offers up to $2,500 per year to kids attending private, not-for-profit colleges or universities in the state; it does not apply to out-of-state schools.
Staff Shakeup
Promise’s new focus comes as it quietly undergoes what Melton called an internal “reorganization.”
The process includes laying off two staffers who have been central to the small organization over the past year.
The first was Suzanne Lyons, who moved from Philadelphia to New Haven last October to become Promise’s assistant director. Lyons, a licensed social worker, came to Promise after working for the University of Pennsylvania’s Upward Bound program, which helped first-time college-goers with the high-school-to-college transition.
Melton joined Promise last Aug. 15, when the organization had only two employees, Adriana Arreola Joseph and Betsy Yagla. Melton hired Lyons last summer. “I hired her before I got here,” Melton said. “We really needed to staff up.”
Last Friday, seven months after Lyons began her job, Promise eliminated the position. Melton said the decision was shared by the Promise board. “I’m hoping she’ll stay here in the area,” Melton said. “She’s an incredibly talented lady — just not exactly what we need.” Melton said the not-for-profit College Summit is doing a good job helping high school kids prepare for college, which is Lyons’ expertise; Promise is now looking for someone who will focus on preparing middle-schoolers for college.
Joseph, who had been in charge of “benchmarks” and outreach, served as the interim Promise director before Melton came aboard. She said she left the agency in December to study for the Connecticut Bar exam.
Yagla, Promise’s communications director, is being laid off at the end of this week, according to Melton. She will move to a new job working for the Community Foundation, which pays the salaries of Promise staff, according to Melton.
Melton said the decisions are part of a “reorganization” of staff. She has already hired a new “data coordinator.” More new hires are on the way. She expects to have a full team of five new staffers in place by the end of June.
Melton is Promise’s third director. Emily Byrne, Promise’s first chief, left the job after a year to take a policy position with state education chief Stefan Pryor. Joseph then took over as interim director before Melton came to town.