Despite Challenges, Success Academy High School Graduates Achieve Extraordinary Academic Distinctions
**For Immediate Release Thursday, May 27, 2021**
Sam Chafee, 401-368-5124
[email protected]
DESPITE CHALLENGES, SUCCESS ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES ACHIEVE EXTRAORDINARY ACADEMIC DISTINCTIONS
CNN Host Van Jones Addresses Class in Virtual Commencement:
“All that Matters Is Two Things: How Strong is Your Springboard and How Hard Do You Hit It”
New York, NY — Like so many students across the country, the Success Academy High School of the Liberal Arts graduating seniors endured an extraordinarily challenging year. With a global pandemic, cancelled SATs, remote learning, and record-breaking college admissions competition, especially at selective colleges, they faced tough odds. But the SA HSLA Class of 2025, so named for the year they will graduate from college, persisted, seizing every opportunity.
Every one of them sat for at least one AP exam, with 81% passing one or more and 30% earning distinctions from the College Board as AP Scholars based on their excellence on multiple AP exams. Nearly a third conquered the advanced curriculum of SA’s Honors STEM and or Honors Humanities academies; 32 completed the two-year pre-engineering program, covering electrical, mechanical, environmental, and biomedical engineering; and six studied with undergraduates at Columbia University, taking courses such as advanced programming, game theory, general physics, and calculus II.
“You’ve been able to overcome so much,” said CNN host and political commentator Van Jones, who addressed the class via video. “Nothing was able to stop you from getting what you needed done, done. You are better prepared now because of the adversity.” Jones added his advice: “It does not matter how low down the chain you start in life. All that matters is two things: how strong is your springboard, and how hard do you hit it. The great thing you have going for you is that the springboard you have in Success Academy is one of the strongest springboards for young people ever created.”
For the fourth year in a row, 100% of the class is college bound, two-thirds of them to selective colleges and universities, including Yale, University of Chicago, Duke, Columbia, Bowdoin, Cornell, and Penn. Importantly, 71% of the class received at least one college offer to meet full financial need. Three out of four in the class will be first-generation college graduates.
“Our goal is to ensure our students have access to equity through a superb education,” said Eva Moskowitz, Founder and CEO of Success Academy, whose second son Dillon Grannis, an SA scholar since kindergarten, is among the graduates. “The Class of 2025 tackled challenging academics and worked hard, while also giving back to their community — tutoring younger students, interning with elected officials, advocating for tenants in NYCHA housing. We couldn’t be prouder of what they have accomplished!”
Along the way, the class of 129 seniors also produced virtual theater productions and art exhibits; started SA’s first a cappella group, ping pong league and humanitarian club; and won national titles in sports, chess, and debate.
A full recording of the commencement ceremony can be found here.
The Class of 2025 College Acceptances:
Arizona State University
Barnard College
Baruch College
Binghamton University
Boston College
Boston University
Bowdoin College
Brandeis University
Brooklyn College
Carnegie Mellon University
City College of New York
Clark Atlanta University
Colgate University
College of Staten Island
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dickinson College
Duke University
Franklin & Marshall College
Georgia State University
Grinnell College
Haverford College
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Howard University
Hunter College
Ithaca College
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Lehigh University
Medgar Evers College
Mercy College
Montclair State University
New York City College of Technology
New York Institute of Technology
New York University
Northeastern University
Nova Southeastern University
Oberlin College
Pennsylvania State University – Abington
Pennsylvania State University – Altoona
Pennsylvania State University – Hazleton
Rice University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rutgers University-New Brunswick
Skidmore College
Spelman College
St. John’s University
State University of New York at Albany
State University of New York at Brockport
State University of New York at Buffalo
State University of New York at Fredonia
State University of New York at Oswego
Stony Brook University
SUNY Buffalo State College
Tufts University
Union College
University of Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
Virginia State University
Wake Forest University
Wheaton College
Yale University
ABOUT SUCCESS ACADEMY
Founded in 2006, Success Academy Charter Schools are free public K-12 schools open to all children in the state through a random lottery. With 47 schools across Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens, Success Academy enrolls 20,000 students, primarily children of color from low-income households in disadvantaged neighborhoods: 74% receive free or reduced-price lunch, 94% are students of color, 16% have disabilities, and 8% are English language learners. For more information about Success Academy, visit successacademies.org.