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Catalogue Blog

Freshman Fall

Before long, freshman orientation will begin at colleges and universities across the country. Dorms will fill up and students will move away from home, many for the first time in their lives. Some joke that the hardest part of college is getting in, but staying in often proves far more challenging. As the Washington Post Education Review points out:

The members of the incoming Class of 2015 have been lectured on the value of a college degree for most of their lives. But getting that degree has never been more expensive, especially at a time when some families are dealing with unemployment, cut wages and other financial hardships. Record numbers of freshmen are arriving on campus already stressed out, and campus resources are stretched thinner by demand. Continue reading

“Skipping” High School

A fast-paced new initiative is set to launch this coming fall in Prince George’s county:

This fall, 100 ninth-graders will attend classes on the campus of Prince George’s Community College in Largo through a public school initiative called the Academy of Health Sciences. They’ll start with typical classes from high school teachers in such subjects as English, biology, math and Chinese.

By 11th grade, administrators expect these students to be immersed in college life. They’ll have meal plans. Ninety percent of their classes will be with professors and college students. Many are expected to earn enough credits to receive an associate’s degree along with a high school diploma. Continue reading

In The News …

Good morning, Washington! Let’s see what’s in the non-profit news this week …

Stewards of the Earth: One Planet, Many Faiths — This past Sunday, CBS News aired a “religion special that examines the ways members of faith communities are caring for the environment.” Featured first on the program were Lisa and Chris Bright, founders of Catalogue non-profit Earth Sangha and practicing Buddhists, “living their dharma (or life’s path) repairing the earth.” You can watch the full video right here.

High school gets teen off the street and into college — Just weeks after their selection for the 2011/2012 Catalogue, Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School celebrated its first graduation … and was featured on CNN. The piece centers on newly-graduated Derontae Mason, who went from homeless to college-bound; Mason is part of the school’s “first graduating class of 70 students, all of whom have already been accepted to various colleges and universities.” Continue reading

Quote for Monday

Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.

Marian Wright Edelman (1939-Present)

Free the child’s potential, and you will transform him into the world.

Maria Montessori (1870-1952)

This week, as countless high school seniors decide where they will spend their college years, we would like to recognize our Education non-profits — many of whom work tirelessly to remove all obstacles on the road to college for young scholars in Greater Washington. In the words of Rassan Salandy of The Posse Foundation‘s National Office, we are “working to develop a new kind of leadership network in the United States — one that will better represent the nation’s shifting demographics at the tables where decisions are made.” It’s a truly crucial assignment!