It’s a great time to be a Burlington seventh-grader.
The Burlington Community School District is one of 13 districts in the state to be awarded a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) Iowa 3.0 grant.
The grant, awarded through Iowa College Aid, will provide BCSD with federal funding in the amount of $53,000 per year over a seven-year period to provide this year’s seventh-graders with support and resources from now through their high school graduation in 2029 and into their first year of post-secondary education.
“This is a seven-year project, so it starts with this year’s seventh grade students and lasts for seven years, so we follow them until a year after they graduate from high school,” BCSD Supervisor of Grants and Outreach Cassie Gerst said.
During the course of the grant, students in this cohort will receive wide-ranging services aimed at preparing them and their families academically, financially and inspirationally to enroll and succeed in college and other postsecondary education pathways.
Informational meetings about this project will be held for staff on Dec. 8 and for students and families Jan. 9.
