AT&T; Pennsylvania gives $300,000 grant to Netter Center

As part of the AT&T; Aspire initiative, AT&T; Pennsylvania donated a grant of $300,000 over three years to Penn's Netter Center for Community Partnerships's College Access and Career Readiness Program. The donation was a portion of the nearly $800,000 in grants to programs throughout Philadelphia related to high-school achievement and post-graduation preparation.

Netter Center founding director Ira Harkavy joined AT&T; Pennsylvania President Michael Schweder, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, Philadelphia School District Superintendent Arlene Ackerman and Philadelphia's Chief Education Officer Lori Shorr at Sayre High School on Monday afternoon to announce the grant.

According to Netter Center associate director Cory Bowman, CACR provides extensive training and activities for students at Sayre High School, which is located at 58th and Walnut streets. The program offers academic, career and college-related guidance to students throughout their four years at the school.

With AT&T;'s commitment, he said, the Netter Center is able "to build upon successful college and career activities so that we can provide a 'comprehensive' program for students."

Activities range from career fairs, to learning how to apply for financial aid to touring colleges and even participating in internships across the city.

CACR also offers a six-week summer program to rising high-school seniors in which each student is paired with a college student to fill out sample admissions and scholarship applications and financial-aid documents and craft essays.

The program also invites parents to get involved, allowing them to participate in college visits and attend workshops on college and career planning.

Parents also receive reports throughout the year about their children's progress.

The AT&T; Cohort, another program under CACR, will allow more than 30 ninth-grade students to participate in additional activities that promote high school success and plan for life after Sayre.

Students participating in CACR have witnessed tremendous improvements as a result of the program. The CACR executive summary explains that of the 19 students who participated in the program in 2007-2008, 95 percent graduated on time, 68.4 percent went on to two- or four-year colleges and 15 percent had full-time jobs.

"We expect to build upon this College Access and Career Readiness work so that we can expand it across Sayre and also to our other West Philadelphia partner high schools," Bowman said.

He added, "This grant will have positive impacts not only on Sayre students and their Sayre and Penn partners," but also on the development of Penn's partner schools in West Philadelphia.

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