Many people understand that you need strong scores to get into elite colleges, but they don’t realize how much our education system is flawed — that it often stacks the odds against minority students. So the top score isn’t always what’s the most important. Together, my class and I achieved an average score that was far above the rest of the country’s. It wasn’t just me who took part in this achievement — it was all of us.

One of our scholars was selected as one of just 80 participants (out of 2.400 applicants) for the prestigious Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) program at MIT. High School of the Liberal Arts Principal Andy Malone shares two emails from the scholar recounting this truly special experience.

In July, Success Academy Scholar Autumn Swepson traveled to Ireland with Putney Student Travel: Writing in Ireland. This unique travel experience brought together carefully selected student writers to explore the literary roots and storytelling traditions of Ireland, all while improving their own craft.

Success Academy sent HSLA world history teacher Natasha Venner to the prestigious Gilder Lehrman Teaching Seminar at Oxford University this summer. History at Success is all about active engagement and using a rich variety of texts and techniques. The seminar was an incredible chance for her to bolster her skills and spark new ideas for the fall.

Current and former Merrill Lynch interns offer inside looks at their experience, while another Success Academy student shares what he learned interning with 300 Entertainment.

On Saturday, April 29th, Success Academy High School of the Liberal Arts hosted its inaugural College Admissions Case Studies Program. Danielle Jakob created this event for our founding scholars and their families — now in 10th and 11th grades — which placed them in an admissions officer’s seat for the day.

This past weekend, nine of my scholars from the Success Academy High School of the Liberal Arts traveled to Philadelphia to take part in the Penn Relay Races — a track and field event that has taken place annually since 1895.

Most people don’t know this, but there are leading math educators whose celebrity status rivals Hollywood’s favorite movie stars. At least among math teachers! When Success Academy provided our high school math team with the chance to attend the annual National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference in San Antonio, Texas— essentially the Oscars of math education — we could hardly wait.

Through the work of our Manager of Pre-College Programs and our College Access and Persistence Team, our scholars have already secured spots in 35 different summer programs, across the U.S. and abroad.

The best part of my job doesn’t take place in the classroom. It happens during the one-on-one meetings I have twice a week, with the ten scholars I’ve advised, some for the past two years.

Ever since I was five years old, I have loved the idea of working in the medical field — it’s been my dream.

When I arrived at Summer Arts Institute in July, I was nervous and excited. But again the nerves went away — from the minute I stepped through the door, we sang non-stop every day.

This summer, I had a life-changing experience at the Future Latino Leaders Law Camp at American University in Washington, D.C.

This summer, Success Academy high school scholars explored the Canadian wilderness, created digital animation from scratch, practiced medicine, and studied psychology, law, and art at prestigious schools and programs across the United States. As one of five college access and persistence counselors at the high school, I helped many of these bright young men and women navigate the application process to elite summer programs and submit their first high-stakes applications.

More than 50 years after his “I Have a Dream” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., continues to inspire the work we do at Success Academy. His message of equality, justice, and opportunity for all is as fresh and powerful as it was a half-century ago.

I stopped eating meat when I was 10 — the day I was eating a hamburger on a train, looked outside, and saw two cows on a bright green pasture. I had once biked up to those cows and touched their soft pink noses. I had named them Henry and Frank — and now I […]

The book discusses class and education, violence in relationships, race, and feminism — all issues that I wanted to learn more about. I was eager to learn how to talk back about these issues when all my life I’ve heard that talking back is disrespectful.

Suddenly, the environmental issues that we were studying and discussing in class became more real and pressing — and that made learning more fun and exciting.

In October, my classmates and I earned free tickets from our school to see the Broadway musical Hamilton, which tells the story of Alexander Hamilton and the other founders of American democracy.

Success Academy tenth-grader Sekou Cisse loves a good argument. A seasoned member of the SA High School of the Liberal Arts debate team, Sekou joined debate as a seventh grader at Success Academy Harlem West.

On Sept. 30, I had the incredible pleasure of accompanying 132 Success Academy High School of the Liberal Arts scholars and staff to a matinee performance of the groundbreaking Broadway musical Hamilton.

A few weeks ago one of our ninth-grade scholars delivered a welcome address to a group of distinguished guests at Success Academy High School of the Liberal Arts.