District wins seven-year GEAR UP grant to start middle-school cohort, hire College Now partner

Eddie Hall, presenting to the South Euclid Lyndhurst Board of Education on Dec. 17, said the district has been awarded a federal GEAR UP grant that will run for seven years and will fund a multi-year program beginning with all sixth- and seventh-grade students.

The GEAR UP program is designed to boost academic performance and postsecondary readiness, Hall said. "GEAR UP is a grant," he said. "Just picture them as the money. College Now is the vehicle to help utilize the money and reach the families and the students." Hall told the board the grant will pay for a College Now representative who will work in-district to implement programming and coordinate family engagement.

The grant will support multiple components, Hall said: early financial-aid awareness, academic and social-emotional preparation, campus visits and career exposure, summer programming, family engagement nights and teacher professional development. He…