“It’s enhanced the values and the vision we’ve had for our school and for the students at Wilson,” Wilson says of the EXCELerator model. “It’s a comprehensive program all will be affected by. We are not going to let kids fail. We look to have every one of our students ready for college.”
The $16 million grant from the Gates Foundation will be exhausted after two and a half years, so organizers are seeking an additional $15 million to $20 million in funding. The College Board currently has money to add another 19 schools in the 2007-2008 school year, bringing the total to 30. The College Board will gradually phase out financial support of the current districts implementing EXCELerator. The organization will still remain a partner with each district, but wants schools to be able to sustain the program themselves, rather than become fiscally dependent.
-Lelita L. Cannon
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