College Planning Begins in Kindergarten for Students to Rise

At Zone 126, building strong community partnerships is an essential part of maintaining strong community ties. This year, we are pleased to announce our partnership with NYC Kids RISE , an organization dedicated to making college economically attainable for all NYC public school students, no matter where they come from or how much their families have in the bank.

NYC Kids RISE is beginning its long and meaningful journey right in our backyard, in District 30 . Partnering with over 30 schools in the district, NYCKR is working in collaboration with Zone 126 around two of its partner schools ( CS 111Q , and PS 171Q ).

The NYC Kids RISE Save for College Program is designed to empower families to begin saving for their child’s higher education early on. Targeted specifically towards Kindergarten families, each child has an automatic deposit of $100 into a scholarship account; families can then earn up to an additional $75 in rewards by completing three “Building Blocks,” which include registering to monitor their NYC Scholarship account, and opening and contributing to their own college savings account. To date over 3,000 Kindergarten students are on a path to college success due to the early planning.

Ultimately, NYC Kids RISE’s vision of building relationships with families, schools, and the District 30 community, and developing a long-term partnership epitomizes what we at Zone 126 call “cradle to career” support. By developing these initial steps, collectively we are putting the children of Astoria and Long Island City on a path to success, that leads us to breaking the cycles of generational poverty.

Learn more about NYC Kids RISE at www.NYCKidsRISE.org or find them on Facebook , Twitter or Instagram.