Steppingstone Academy prepares Boston students for college success
Sponsored by the Steppingstone Academy
Across Boston, students are back in school and thinking about their academic futures. Anshi Moreno, a Roxbury resident and student at The Winsor School, is determined to be the first person in her family to earn a college degree. This fall, she’ll be busy preparing applications to schools like Harvard, Brown and Amherst.
Anshi’s path to college started more than six years ago, when she first applied to the free summer and after-school program offered by The Steppingstone Academy. Since 1990, Steppingstone has been preparing motivated students like Anshi to succeed at top independent and public exam schools as a pathway to college.
“Steppingstone changed my life course,” Anshi says. “I wouldn’t be at The Winsor School and applying to some of the top colleges in the country without the support I received from the program.”
Over 14 months, Anshi attended Steppingstone classes twice a week during the school year and for six weeks each summer. So when she entered Winsor in sixth grade, she was prepared for the school’s rigorous curriculum and high expectations.
“The skills I learned at Steppingstone helped me get ahead in sixth grade and stay ahead since then,” says Anshi.
Now a high school senior, Anshi is busy juggling three sports, participating in the Youth Leadership Initiative at the Boston YWCA, and leading Somos, a Latina affinity group she founded last year.
“Steppingstone gave me a confidence boost and showed me early on what I can accomplish when I push myself,” she says.
During her years at Winsor, Anshi has continued to benefit from Steppingstone’s support. College tours, discounted SAT classes, financial-aid guidance, individual advising, and tutoring represent just a few of the advantages available to Steppingstone Scholars.
As first-generation Americans who emigrated from Ecuador, Anshi and her parents have relied on these resources to make her goal of college graduation a reality.
“Many students already know things about applying to college from their parents. My family doesn’t have that knowledge, so we turn to Steppingstone to fill in the gaps,” she says.
Of the Steppingstone Scholars who complete the program, 99 percent graduate from high school, 91 percent enroll in a four-year college, and 80 percent graduate with a bachelor’s degree within six years.
Steppingstone accepts applications from motivated Boston students in grades four and five. Applications are due by January 7, 2015. For more information, call 617-423-6300 or visit www.tsf.org/apply.
