Welcome to College Summit

St. Louis

In the fall of 2003 a former Writing Coach, Jane Donahue, approached College Summit about bringing the program to her new home – St. Louis. Students from St. Louis Public Schools attended the first National Workshop in Denver in 2004 while community and education leaders from St. Louis accompanied them, participating in the concurrent National Conference. After leaving the Workshop and Conference, a group of community leaders in St. Louis spent months putting together a formal bid to College Summit, which they presented to members of the College Summit Board of Directors at the Mayor’s office in early March 2005. College Summit’s Board tentatively approved the launch in late April 2005. The launch became official in early May 2005 when the St. Louis Public Schools gave final approval to all elements of the partnership.

St. Louis served four high schools that first year, and has continued a steady expansion since, thanks to partnerships with the St. Louis Public Schools, Wellston and Normandy School Districts, who work in conjunction with College Summit St. Louis to improve the college-going rates of its students. These partnerships are critical piece to a new direction in St. Louis. A recent FOCUS task force found that in order to revitalize the struggling economy in St. Louis, there was a need “to dramatically increase the number of knowledge workers (college-educated thinkers) it generates in the community.” ^[i]

These findings are in line with a recent Harvard University report, CEOs for Cities: The Changing Dynamics of Urban America, which found that “in addition to clear community benefits, college enrollment has powerful effects on students and their families. A college education breaks the intergenerational cycle of poverty, as the children of college graduates are nearly twice as likely to go to college themselves^[ii]; college graduates earn $1 million more over a lifetime than do high school-only graduates, and contribute at least $300,000 more in federal taxes^[iii].

College Summit St. Louis’ commitment to empowering mid-tier students to find a way into colleges and universities is a beginning to a brighter future. The transforming effects of ensuring that all students who can make it in college, make it to college, are felt far beyond one person.

Brief Cumulative Results

College Summit- St. Louis served a total of 410 students during the inaugural 2005-06 school year. Data gathered demonstrates an immediate and positive impact on all students, both those served at workshops and in the classroom during the school year.  Highlights inlcude:

• 91% of 161 graduating seniors at Vashon High School applied to college this year*
• 90% of 146 graduating seniors at Beaumont High School applied to college this year*

100% of College Summit students at Sumner (21 students) were accepted to at least one college

*as verified by official transcripts sent to post-secondary education institutions

Site Advisory Board

• Chair: Reginald Dickson
  CEO Buford, Dickson, Harper and Sparrow
• Vice Chair: Jane Donahue
  Vice President, Deaconess Foundation
• Scott Brooks
  Partner - Audit and Enterprise Risk Services, Deloitte & Touche LLP
• William M. Carson
  Vice President - Operations Strategy, McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc.
• Curt Coonrod
  Vice Provost for Student Affairs, University of Missouri-St. Louis
• Gretta Forrester
  Crosby Corporation
• Brian Hayden
  Senior Consultant, Collaborative Strategies, Inc.
• Randy Sanderson
  Industry Vice President-Retail, INROADS, Inc.
• Lincoln Scott
  President of Equity Issues, Southeast Missouri State University
• Robbyn Wahby
  Education Liaison, Office of Mayor Francis Slay
• John Williamson
  Vice President - Shared Services, TALX Corporation
• Dr. Otis Jackson, Board Emeritus
  Retired Educator, St. Louis Public Schools