Mission

Brief summary of Hartford Youth Scholars' history, mission, and goals:
WHO: Hartford Youth Scholars (HYS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works with Hartford students - beginning when they are in middle school - and helps them get "to and through" college.

WHAT: Our mission is to give students from Hartford the opportunity to change their lives through education.
HOW: We prepare our Scholars to successfully complete a four-year college degree by offering them access to exceptional educational opportunities and providing them with ongoing, comprehensive supports.
WHY: We envision these Scholars attaining college degrees and then returning to work and live in Hartford, thereby inspiring and helping to cultivate similar achievements in younger Hartford students.
HYS helps highly motivated Hartford students gain access to and graduate from best fit secondary schools and colleges. The organization provides Scholars and their families with academic and mentoring support for 10+ years, beginning the summer before students enter 7th grade and continuing through college graduation.

HYS was originally founded in 2005 to address the achievement gap in Hartford by funding scholarships for local youth to attend independent high schools. Realizing that the funding of these scholarships did not meaningfully address Hartford's opportunity gap, the organization targeted its focus to instead provide middle school students with services making them prepared for academic excellence in high school and college.

What We Do

HYS serves students from Hartford and their families. Current Scholars self-identify as 38% male and 62% female; 63% Black, 24% Hispanic, 5% Asian, 1% White and 7% multi-racial. 86% of HYS Scholars' families are low or low-moderate income.

HYS currently serves 252 Scholars and families. 91 are in college, 105 in high school and 53 in middle school. We have 57 college graduates.
Current highlights include:
* 98% current (2019) retention rate;
* 99.8% high school graduation; and
* 97% college enrollment.