Program Information
Organization's Mission
Higher Heights Youth Empowerment Programs, Inc. (HHYEP), founded in 2004, is a New Haven based community organization that provides college preparation services to high school students, grade 9 thru 12, and their families, throughout the New Haven and Fairfield Counties.
Our mission is to change the lives of under-represented college bound students and empower, encourage, and equip them to obtain a post-secondary education.
Our organization’s goal is to provide more equitable access of college preparatory resources and services to a broad range of students and their families who have a history of being deprived and who as a consequence are underrepresented in the pool of academically high-achieving students.
College Prep Program
The College Prep Program has two (2) goals:
Goal #1
• To prepare high school students for post-secondary education by:
- Improving college admission test scores,
- Enhancing their academic abilities,
- Provide college counseling to encourage and empower post-secondary education, and
- Exposing students to direct relationship with the collegiate community
- Providing internships and service learning projects
• Educating and Empowering their parents about the college planning process by:
- Providing monthly workshops on
- Financial Management (budgeting, debt, credit)
- Scholarships
- Healthy Family Relationships
Student Eligibility Requirements
1. Students must be current High School students in good standing;
2. Must demonstrate the motivation and passion to obtain a post-secondary education;
3. Must submit a completed application, along with application requirements
Program Components
The following components are offered to all students who participate in the program:
- SAT & PSAT Test Preparation Classes (Taught by professional trained Princeton Review Instructors)
- Mentoring
- Academic Tutoring
- College Counseling Sessions
- College Prep Workshops to fit their specific needs (i.e. financial planning, scholarship research, college interviews, economic empowerment, etc.)
- College Tour visits (locally and along the East Coast)
Higher Heights YEP, Inc. has developed two programs:
Annual College Prep Program
The purpose of the Annual Student Awareness & College Prep Program is to prepare local high school students for post-secondary education by improving test scores, enhancing their academic abilities, and providing effective resources in a broad range of students who have a history of being deprived and who as a consequence are underrepresented in the pool of academically high-achieving students.
Students must be entering 9th grade or currently attending high school to apply.
The Program is divided into sessions appropriate for different grade levels.
- Fall Program (for Juniors and Seniors only)
- Spring Program (for Sophomores and Freshmen only)
- SAT and PSAT Test Preparation
- Mentoring
- Academic Tutoring
- College Counseling Sessions/Workshops (for the student and parents)
- College Tour Visits
Summer Youth Ambassador Program
Twenty-five (25) High School Students from the Greater New Haven will be trained to become Ambassadors for the program to help promote its mission. The program runs for 5 weeks in the summer and is based in New Haven, Connecticut.
The goal is for the students to go out into the community once a week and present to their peers and younger peers (elementary school students) the importance of a planning for a college education.
The youth will be trained in the following areas:
1. Public Speaking
2. Microsoft PowerPoint
3. Research Analysis
4. How to create a PSA to raise awareness about the importance of planning for a college education
Research has proven that preparation and proper college planning is crucial for students in grades 9 and 10 to promote continuous learning and improved academics. Dropout Prevention is more critical when students become juniors and s eniors in high school. According to the 2006 KidsCount (www.kidscount.org) Data Profile for New Haven states,
- The number of teen high school dropouts were 2,000
- Children in households where the head of household is a high school dropout equaled 7,000
- Children in households where the householder has a bachelor's degree or higher equaled 5,000.
Higher Heights Youth Empowerment Programs, Inc. is a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) community based organization in New Haven, Connecticut.
