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College‑access partners report enrollment gains and year‑round supports for Utica students
Summary
OnPoint, Young Scholars, MVCC and other partners described expanded college access, advising and career pathways at Proctor High School and district schools, citing increased enrollments, summer programming and supports that target first‑generation and low‑income students.
OnPoint for College and several community partners told the Utica City School District board they have increased year‑round services aimed at improving college access and post‑secondary success.
Kevin Markin, OnPoint’s regional director, said OnPoint enrolled 231 Proctor students between Sept. 1 and March 31 — a 72.4% increase over the prior year’s seven‑month period — and described year‑round advising, FAFSA support and career services delivered on campus and at a district office. Annie Guerrero, OnPoint assistant director at Proctor, described hands‑on help with applications, financial‑aid documents and pre‑orientation work to reduce the “summer melt” for at‑risk students.
Jordan Peters of Young Scholars (a partnership with Utica University) summarized a pipeline program that begins in seventh grade and offers sustained academic support, summer residential programming and graduate pipelines for site staff. Young Scholars reported serving more than 400 students annually when summer programming is included and cited a 94% graduation rate for participants.
Todd Cubicham of Mohawk Valley Community College presented three college‑access grants — Upward Bound, STEP and GEAR UP — that provide tutoring, summer college experiences and STEM exposure. Cubicham highlighted long‑term tracking requirements for federal grants and asked for advocacy to protect continued funding resources.
Administrators and partners emphasized multilingual outreach and family engagement to reach first‑generation students and noted a mix of district, state and federal funding supports the work.
Why it matters: Partners described sustained, year‑round engagement that aims to move more Utica students into post‑secondary training or education and to reduce summer attrition. The board is preparing budget and policy decisions that could affect program scale and district staffing.
Next steps: District staff and partners will continue data reporting and coordination, and OnPoint and other agencies signaled readiness to expand outreach as budget resources permit.
