Spring is here. Summer is around the corner. And we're overjoyed to welcome more than 600* new students to the Summer Search family!
Here's a quick breakdown of our new students by community:
- Bay Area: 168 students accepted.
- Boston: 128 students accepted.
- NYC: 198 students accepted.
- Philadelphia: 70 students accepted.
- Seattle: 60 students accepted.
Newly enrolled Summer Search Sophomores from Boston (left, at a Group Mentoring session) and Philadelphia (right, with their mentor Muffy).
Newly enrolled Summer Search Sophomores from Boston at a Group Mentoring session.
Newly enrolled Summer Search Sophomores from Philadelphia with their mentor Muffy.
Since enrolling, our new Summer Searchers have been connecting with their mentors and peers, planning for their first summer experiences, and setting goals for their futures. During this time, Summer Search mentors are also having conversations with a parent or guardian of each new student to answer any questions and ensure the families have an understanding of our program.
Reimagining Student Recruitment
Each year we recruit and welcome a new class of high school sophomores. We call this Outreach Season, which begins in the fall and (under normal circumstances) involves our Outreach Teams visiting our partner high schools and introducing Summer Search to potential new students and their families.
Like with the rest of our program, the COVID-19 pandemic forced lots of adjusting and reimagining for our student recruitment. In the 2020-21 academic year, Summer Search Outreach staff worked with our
high school partners to change course and move the majority of our student recruitment
online.
During this past Outreach Season (for the 2021-22 academic year), our teams utilized a hybrid approach of some virtual and some in-person, based on local safety guidelines.
Summer Search Philly students Breanna and Kaila sharing their experiences during an Outreach presentation at KIPP DuBois Collegiate Academy in the fall of 2021.
This included:
- Presentations/orientations to students and families held in schools and via Zoom, often in multiple languages.
- Documents digitized, sent via email/social media and made available via student-only portals.
- Our teams continued to improve the online application for better accessibility for students/families.
- Current Summer Searchers encouraged to nominate sophomores, increasing our pool of applicants.
- Social media continued to be utilized to share perspectives about the benefits of joining and keep prospective students engaged and informed.
Outreach Season on social media: Bay Area flyers promoting their online application deadline and Philly inviting new students and their families to their Welcome Orientation.
We're incredibly grateful for our staff and community for the ways they have continued to innovate in order to enroll a new class of deserving young people. Leave a comment below to show some love for our staff and to welcome our newest Summer Searchers!
*This number (624) represents the number of new sophomores who have been accepted into Summer Search, as of April 25, 2022. Students are in the process of completing their enrollment.