In 2010, we started Summer Forward for two, interrelated reasons. First, as the Canada quote above suggests, the summer is a perilous period for our population of low-income teenagers from the South Bronx. With tight family budgets affording few options, most of of our kids do very little over the summer. For some of our kids, a successful summer is one in which trouble doesn't find them and they don't find trouble. Yet dodging dangers doesn't advance our kids, which brings us to the other reason we started Summer Forward - our kids fall behind academically in the summer.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have found that the achievement gap prevalent in American high schools is more attributable to what happens during the summer than the school year. While students from middle- and upper-class families are engaged in summer enrichment activities, kids like ours are doing nothing, and falling behind as a result. The objective of our program is to help close the gap by using the plethora of programs available over the summer to move our kids forward.

East Side House Settlement (ESHS) was founded in 1891 and has been serving the Mott Haven area of the South Bronx since 1963. With a commitment to serving residents at critical junctures, ESHS's staff of more than 70 full-time employees provide educational, social and economic services. ESHS partnered with the New York City Department of Education in 2002 to open Mott Haven Village Preparatory High School, a small, traditional public school in the South Bronx that provides students with college and career counseling, among other resources, through the College Preparation and Leadership Program.

The College Preparation and Leadership Program (CPLP) is a project of East Side House Settlement. Operating from within MHVP, a staff of seven provide comprehensive  support services for students in grades 9-12, plus alumni. Classes teach students soft skills like goal-setting and time management as well as harder skills like financial literacy, how to complete a college application and register for classes. In addition, staff work with students and their families to improve attendance and academic performance and connect students with internships and experiential learning opportunities, including a week-long alternative spring break project in New Orleans.

Mott Haven Village Preparatory High School (MHVP) is a small, traditional public high school located in the South Bronx section of New York City. Opened in 2002 through a partnership between the Department of Education and East Side House Settlement, MHVP aims to create intimate learning communities for its roughly 365 students, nearly 80 percent of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.