Celebrating NYC Scholarship Month - 70,000+ kindergartners and first graders receive NYC Scholarship Accounts

In January, we announced with NYC Public Schools, the NYC Mayor’s Office of Equity, and city officials that over 70,000 kindergartners and first graders had joined the Save for College Program. This new class nearly doubled the total number of students in the Program to 145,000! January also marked the second year that schools celebrated NYC Scholarship Month city-wide. We witnessed traditions like P.S. 212Q's Money Mondays and new traditions taking root at schools like P.S. 214X in West Farms, P.S. 748K in Bensonhurst, and DREAM East Harlem Elementary School in Harlem that hosted events celebrating students’ growing college and career savings where parents and guardians were supported by school teams to complete steps in the Save for College Program.

Building assets and demonstrating support through Community Scholarships

2023 saw a record number of 21 Community Scholarships, a total of $724,400 contributed to students’ NYC Scholarship Accounts! These Community Scholarships took a variety of new shapes and forms. Koeppel Auto Group started the first commitment to a recurring Community Scholarship and is donating $20 for each vehicle sold at any of its five local auto dealerships towards the Koeppel Kares Community Scholarship for the NYC Scholarship Accounts of students at P.S. 148Q The Ruby G. Allen School in East Elmhurst. 

In Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, participants in the Queens Distance Runners’ 3rd Annual Jackson Heights Mile 2023 and the Inaugural Elmhurst Mile 2023 ran to give back to students in their community. A portion of the money raised through these races is going to the NYC Scholarship Accounts of students at P.S. 149Q and P.S. 398Q in Jackson Heights, and P.S. 12Q in Elmhurst, respectively. Learn more about Community Scholarships and how you can launch one to support public school students!

Coming together to support families and students’ success

Throughout the school year, we came together with school and district partners, community-based organizations, city agencies, and elected officials to support families across the city at school community events and celebrations; family resource fairs at Queens Museum, Yankee Stadium, and beyond; among neighborhood health fairs, NYCHA Family Days, book giveaways, and more. Supporting a record number of 154 family and community engagement events, including bilingual live workshops at schools, complemented NYC Kids RISE support for parents/guardians provided via email, phone, and text message outreach, and over 60 online information sessions (including virtual workshops co-hosted with Brooklyn Public Library and Inside Schools).

Supporting schools to incorporate financial education inside the classroom and beyond

In celebration of 529 Day, P.S. 398Q transformed 34th Avenue into a bustling marketplace to support students’ financial literacy skills and families to take the foundational steps of the Save for College Program. The third annual “529 Market Day” is an example of creative ways schools and communities can work together to incorporate financial education both in and outside the classroom. At schools like P.S. 166Q Henry Gradstein in Astoria, kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders have been learning how to spend money wisely, set savings goals, build wealth, and identify possible career choices. Watch and share the video with NYC Chief Equity Officer and Mayor’s Office of Equity & Racial Justice Sideya Sherman at 529 Market Day and read about P.S. 166’s experience in The Morning Bell.  



Working to expand access to capital markets, through advocacy for inclusive 529 plans

In stark contrast to 2014, where in some NYC neighborhoods you would have to go into five classrooms to find one student with a NY 529 account; today, nearly every first and second grader in public school in New York City now has an NYC Scholarship Account invested in a NY 529 Direct Plan—this is a big deal. As the country’s main state-administered, tax-advantaged investment products created to help families save for college and career education, 529 plans are a critical wealth-building tool for families. 

NYC Kids RISE Founding Executive Director Debra-Ellen Glickstein and Chief of Strategy and Policy Leila Bozorg shared our recommendations on how New York can lead the way to a more inclusive future for all our children in honor of 529 Day (May 29) this year.  

Training schools to integrate the Program into school communities



Throughout the year, NYC Kids RISE held more than 50 virtual Professional Learning Sessions for school staff. Through these virtual events, school teams learned about the nuts and bolts of the Save for College Program, how to support parents and guardians through the process of completing the first foundational step to receive more rewards for their child’s NYC Scholarship Account, and how to integrate the Program into school activities and operations.

Cheering as the first class of fifth graders with NYC Scholarship Accounts head to middle school



In June, a historic cohort of 3,200 students from District 30 schools in Astoria, Long Island City, East Elmhurst, Corona, Jackson Heights, Sunnyside, and Woodside were the first from the NYC Kids RISE Save for College pilot to head to middle school with money for their college and career dreams. Read more in the New York Times. When these students were kindergarteners, they were the first to receive NYC Scholarship Accounts through the Program. We’re excited to continue working with these students, their families, and communities to continue supporting their educational futures! Watch on PIX11: Founding Executive Director Debra-Ellen Glickstein and parent Nadia Landy, and watch on Instagram: highlights from District 30 fifth-grade graduations!

Ringing the NYSE Bell with Save for College Program partners



In August, we were honored to ring The Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with many Save for College Program partners from across government, education, business, community, and philanthropy including some of our youngest scholars, opening trading and celebrating investment in students’ financial futures. Hear from a P.S. 111Q sixth grader on her experience at the NYSE and from Founding Executive Director Debra-Ellen Glickstein.

Reinforcing expectations of success and support



In September, higher education leaders of colleges and universities across the country came together with NYC Kids RISE Founding Executive Director Debra-Ellen Glickstein and NYC Public Schools Chancellor David Banks to remind New York City elementary school students of the boundless opportunities available for their educational futures as they started the school year. Watch the video message from CUNY, SUNY, Spelman College, Muhlenberg College, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of California, Merced, Wesleyan University, University of Dayton, NYC Public Schools, and NYC Kids RISE—and read more in BK Reader.

Launching Inaugural NYC Public School Alumni Community Scholarships

As a way to further support the integration of the Save for College Program platform into the fabric of NYC neighborhoods, this month, we announced how 34 alumni from 31 elementary schools across the five boroughs have already committed over $65,000, to date, to the NYC Scholarship Accounts of first and second graders at their former elementary schools. Through NYC Public Schools Alumni Community Scholarships, these contributions will support the college and career dreams of 4,000+ students across New York City. All contributions through NYC Public School Alumni Community Scholarships will be matched by Coleman Family Ventures and the Gray Foundation.

Laying the groundwork for the Community Leadership & Training Institute

NYC Kids RISE kicked off a partnership with the city’s NYCBenefits program—an initiative designed to connect eligible New Yorkers to unclaimed government benefits and to make the process of accessing and maintaining those supports easy and efficient. NYC Kids RISE is training participating community-based organizations to work with families to understand the Save for College Program and support families to complete the foundational steps. The partnership with NYCBenefits is further setting a foundation for the Community Leadership + Training Institute, which will support the ongoing training and capacity building of community partners throughout the city.

Growing and celebrating the NYC Kids RISE team

This year, we welcomed new team members, to support the evolution and success of the Program, and we continue to invest in strengthening the ways we work together. Right now, we’re seeking our first-ever Chief of Communications. Other opportunities will be coming online in early 2024, please keep an eye on our careers page.