At First Graduate, we believe in starting early – we recruit a new cohort of 7th grader students each year and begin working with them immediately to reach a goal that’s at least 10 years away. When was the last time you planned 10 years ahead for anything?
For each one of these students the goal is the same: to be the first person in their family to graduate from college. And for each of these students that journey begins the same way: at an annual event we call Discovery Day.
Discovery Day is an all-day recruiting event where prospective students participate in a series of group activities and interviews with First Graduate® staff and volunteers. The potential a student displays on Discovery Day is a primary factor (along with the student’s written application and teacher recommendations) in the ultimate selection of who will be a part of the the next cohort of seventh graders to join First Graduate.
Discovery Day 2015 took place in the fall and we are really excited about the students we met and ultimately accepted to make up our newest cohort, which we refer to as FG15, but you might know as the Class of 2025. See the graphics below to learn more about the 76 students that make up our newest cohort.
Since the selections were made, our staff have been working tirelessly with new students and their families to prepare them for what the next 10 years of their journey with us will be like. Our goals are to help our families become better consumers of education while “moving the needle” to improve college access and success for San Francisco students.
Because of you, our donors and volunteers, we now have 475 students on the path to becoming first generation college graduates. In the coming years we hope to be able to work with and recruit from additional middle schools within the SFUSD, and grow to coach up to 2,000 students within 5 years.
It’s an ambitious plan, but we know that by working more closely with two underperforming middle schools–James Denman and Everett–where students are most in need of our services, we can change the college-going tradition in entire schools, neighborhoods, communities, and beyond. Imagine what this city will be like when we do that?
We hope you will continue to make a difference by volunteering and donating. You make all of these wonderful developments happen–thank you.
