The First in Their Families, College Bound
Against the odds, seniors from this New York City school are attending and finishing college.
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Go to My Saved Content.It was a frigid morning, but throngs of well-wishers lined the sidewalks of Audubon Avenue on the northern tip of Manhattan in early December anyway, cheering for seniors from Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School (WHEELS). Waving to their supporters, the high school students proudly marched鈥攕ome danced鈥攑ast Amore鈥檚 Beauty Salon and the Esmeraldo Bakery on their way to the post office on 180th Street.
They were going to do something that many of their parents never got the chance to do: mail out their first college applications.
Known as the College March, this education celebration began in 2011 at , a pre-K to 12 public school in New York City that serves 100 percent low-income students, 90 percent of whom will be the first in their families to go to college. Since then, the march has been replicated by thousands of seniors around the country.
But the event is merely the capstone in a seven-year journey for WHEELS students and marks the beginning of one for their younger peers, who hold signs and jostle to see the upperclassmen start the next chapter of their lives.
At the school, students learn the differences between public and private colleges, prepare for the SAT, tour campuses, and get assistance filling out their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms and admissions applications. This heightened level of support continues as students choose, and eventually attend, college to help ensure they graduate with a degree.
鈥淪tarting in sixth grade, our students are saturated with the idea that they are going to college鈥攚e want it to be assumed that they are going,鈥� said Thomas Rochowicz, principal of WHEELS. 鈥淲e know that we are preparing them not just for college access, but ultimately, for college and career success. That work takes time.鈥�
In the fall of 2016, 100 percent of WHEELS students applied to college, and 91 percent of the graduates enrolled.聽More than half attended a four-year college, and 63 percent of all alumni persisted into their junior year.
Starting Early
WHEELS was established by in 2006 with a mission to give students hands-on learning opportunities using the 鈥渃ity as a classroom.鈥� The school is open to any child in New York City, but most of WHEELS鈥� 806 students come from Washington Heights, the predominantly low-income, Latino neighborhood around聽the school.
Like other NYC Outward Bound network schools, WHEELS uses the organization鈥檚 鈥淭o and Through College鈥� model to help students prepare for higher education鈥攁 comprehensive approach that addresses everything from logistics and deadlines to soft skills development.
Starting college preparation early is especially critical for WHEELS students, say staff, who emphasize that developing habits like a growth mindset and grit聽and setting high personal expectations can take time for kids who will be the first in their family to go to college.
As early as seventh grade, WHEELS students start visiting colleges鈥攑reparation that intensifies each year as they near graduation. By senior year, the average student has visited eight colleges on comprehensive tours, often with alumni, to show them what their lives will be like if they attend.
For student Darianny, a senior and first-generation college student who applied to SUNY (State University of New York)聽Binghamton, SUNY Albany, and Syracuse University, 鈥渢he term college聽has been in our heads since we鈥檝e walked through these doors.鈥�
Darianny remembers watching older students participate in the march as an underclassman and thinking it was 鈥測ears and years away鈥濃�攁nd then finally聽the day arrived when it was her turn.聽
鈥淚 think the highlight of the entire experience was when we physically took the copy and put it in the box to be mailed out,鈥� she said of the personal touch of mailing an application in an age of digital admissions. 鈥淛ust having it in our hands and releasing it was an amazing experience. I could do it over and over again.鈥澛�
The Right Fit聽
Matching up students with the 鈥渞ight鈥� college for their interests and academic abilities is just as important as the preparation, though, according to Daniel Morales-Armstrong, the lead college counselor at WHEELS.
One of the hardest parts is encouraging both the students and their parents not to undermatch a student鈥攁pplying or attending a school that is not challenging enough鈥攐ften an issue for kids in low-income areas, he explains.
Parents are mostly concerned with the college鈥檚 cost and distance from home, but Morales-Armstrong encourages families to consider more competitive, private schools that may offer larger scholarships than local city colleges. WHEELS also hosts a FAFSA form night to help ensure students apply for financial aid. With this simple support from the staff, nearly all of the聽seniors fill out the FAFSA form, compared to just 67 percent of students city-wide.
Ibel Castellanos, mother of WHEELS senior Dannibel, said the support from the school not only helped her daughter find and choose colleges to apply to, but was essential in guiding both mother and daughter through the admissions and financial aid process鈥攗nfamiliar to Castellanos, who did not attend college and does not speak English.
鈥淥ne of the best things students learn at WHEELS is that they are responsible for their own future,鈥� said Castellanos through a translator. 鈥淭hat they should look for opportunities to take responsibility themselves, not wait for their parents to make a decision.鈥�
Dannibel has already been accepted at several colleges and is waiting to hear from a few more, her mother said, adding that she supports her daughter in wherever she decides to go, even if it is far from home.
A Rough Awakening
But research shows the challenges for first-generation students like many at WHEELS don鈥檛 end with an acceptance letter. Studies have found that first-generation students to obtain a four-year college degree and are more likely to leave college for financial reasons than students with family members who have attended college. On average, only one in 10 low-income, first-generation students .
Even with聽intensive support, college can be a rough awakening for WHEELS students, according to Julia Forman, an alumni manager at NYC Outward Bound Schools.
Many colleges, especially larger public institutions, do not have adequate advisement. It鈥檚 also not uncommon for WHEELS alums to face pressure to financially support their families while in college; some have dropped out when a family member couldn鈥檛 work. Others have felt a sense of alienation from their community once they started attending college outside the area, Forman said.
To ensure that students aren鈥檛 left hanging once they start college, WHEELS and NYC Outward Bound Schools staff help connect them to the right supports on campus. Staff members聽visit colleges several times a year to check in on alums and steer students to particular services or resources. The school also relies on its roughly 450 alumni to help new students through a peer mentorship program and more informal opportunities like group discussions on campus.
Some alumni, like Krystal Acevedo, have even returned to work at WHEELS to help students like the one she once was.聽Acevedo, who was in the school鈥檚 first graduating class in 2011, received a bachelor鈥檚 degree in sociology from City University of New York鈥揕ehman College聽last year and has plans to go to graduate school.
鈥淭hey taught us to be prepared, that life is not easy,鈥� said聽Acevedo. 鈥淏ut they also supported us so that everyone was able to do it, even the ones that thought that they couldn鈥檛. WHEELS always gave us that push so we could.鈥�