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The College Success division offers comprehensive programming for participants and community members, with a primary goal to support residents within Cypress Hills and East New York towards completion of a college credential within 6 years of high school graduation. Services offered within the CSP division include: 

Community Schools

  • High School Attendance Outreach + Dropout Prevention

  • Mental Health Counseling

Student Success Centers (Franklin K. Lane + Thomas Jefferson Campuses)

  • College Access Counseling + Programming
     

College STEPS & Persistence

  • College Matriculation Support

  • College Persistence Advisement

Cesiah Toro Mullane Scholarship Fund​

Patricia Tanner Scholarship

Division Contact:
Marissa Disla

Director of College Success Division

marissad@cypresshills.org

276 Chestnut St, Brooklyn, NY 11208

(917) 451-8573

Community Schools

Community Schools

A Community School is both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. Its integrated focus on academics, services, supports, and opportunities leads to improved student learning, stronger families and healthier communities.

 

At the Franklin K. Lane Campus, we have three Community Schools: Brooklyn Lab School, Cypress Hills Collegiate Preparatory High School, and Multicultural High School. 

Contacts:

Falyne Fuller

Community Schools Director, Brooklyn Lab School

Franklin K. Lane Campus, 999 Jamaica Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11208

Email: falynef@cypresshills.org

SSC

Student Success Centers

The College Success division currently runs two Student Success Centers (SSCs), one each on the Franklin K. Lane and Thomas Jefferson campuses. Each SSC is a centralized postsecondary office of the campus, and provides early college awareness, college access counseling, financial aid advisement, and career exploration. A key component of each SSC are the Youth Leaders, current high school students trained to serve as peer counselors and educators around college access.

 

Contacts:

Franklin K. Lane Campus

Lauraly Laurent

Director, Student Success Center

999 Jamaica Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11208

Room 501

Email: lauralyl@cypresshills.org

 

Thomas Jefferson Campus

Melissa Billings

Director, Student Success Center

400 Pennsylvania Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207

Email: melissab@cypresshills.org

College STEPS

College STEPS Program & Persistence

The College STEPS office is located at the Cypress Hills East New York Community Center and provides both college access and persistence support to students interested in pursuing a postsecondary degree. Our College Persistence Program provides year-round support services to help our students persist in college and graduate. College Persistence Counselors, along with College Coaches (who are current college students), provide support services to students including: on-campus office hours at colleges, summer programming to help students prepare for college, and group workshops on topics such as how to discuss concerns with navigating college campuses, accessing academic assistance, transfer advisement, financial literacy, resume writing and job readiness.

 

Contact:

Aderys (Addy) Adames

Director of College Persistence and College STEPS

276 Chestnut St, Brooklyn, NY 11208

Email: Aderysa@cypresshills.org 

Phone: (917) 451-8569

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CTM

Background:

Cesiah Toro Mullane was a one of the founding members and Board President of CHLDC, and extremely supportive resident of the Cypress Hills community. Cesiah was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where she graduated from Rio Pieras and went to the University of Puerto Rico for two years. In 1954 she became a resident of Cypress Hills, and embraced CHLDC's work in youth and family services, educational reform and affordable housing & economic development. Cesiah was an enthusiastic fundraiser and tireless volunteer - - whether it was serving as the Master of Ceremonies for “We Love Cypress Hills Day;” working to govern the Cypress Hills Community School; composing and editing by-laws; convincing private philanthropists to invest in the organization; or motivating others, by her own example, to give of their time and money to CHLDC.

Scholarship Fund:

The Cesiah Toro Mullane Scholarship Fund offers ​two new first year $1000 scholarships to Cypress Hills’ residents who exemplify Cesiah’s values and life. The scholarship may be used for tuition, books, travel, and other college related expenses. The scholarship is intended to support financially needy students pursuing a 4 year Bachelor’s degree. Students must provide copies of their transcripts on an annual basis demonstrating that they have accumulated enough academic credits to advance to the next college level in order to be considered for scholarship renewals. The scholarship is renewable up to 4 years if a student remains in good standing. In the second year the scholarship is $1000, in the third year, the scholarship is $1000 and the final year, it is $1,500. The scholarship will not be renewed if college transcripts show a lack of credit accumulation or academic failures.

PT Scholarship

Scholarship Eligibility:
You must:
- Be a resident of Cypress Hills/East New York, Brooklyn
- Accepted into a 4 year college as a first time freshman for September 2024

- Participant in Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation’s Student Success Center programming (Franklin K. Lane or Thomas Jefferson campuses) or referred by the CHLDC Board/Staff
- Demonstrate financial need
- Demonstrate a history of community service, activism or volunteerism

Application is now open 

due August 2nd

Application Process:
- Complete Scholarship Application Form/Survey
- Before submitting your application, please make sure all the required items are attached:
      - Completed Cesiah Toro Mullane (CTM) Scholarship Application
      - Scholarship Essay
      - High School Transcript
      - Acceptance letter from your college
      - Financial Aid Award Letter from your college

Background:

Patricia Ann Tanner was one of the founders of the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation. Pat and her husband, Roger were the longtime owners of Werner & Acker/Cypress Hills Florist on Jamaica Avenue and Crescent Street and were leaders of Andrews United Methodist Church and local merchants associations. As a founder of CHLDC, Pat had the vision and the fortitude to set our organization’s course for over 27 years. She volunteered tirelessly from 1983 through her retirement in 2010. Pat served as the Treasurer of our Board of Directors for many years and then our Board President for six years, tripling our programming and budget, and then leading our housing subsidiary corporations for another ten years! Her commitment to community service, giving young people opportunities and supporting neighborhood small businesses is an inspiration to us all.

Scholarship Fund:

The Patricia Tanner Scholarship awards two $1,000 scholarships to two new first year Cypress Hills’ residents who exemplify Pat Tanner’s values and life. The scholarship may be used for tuition, books, travel, and other college/certification related expenses. The scholarship is intended to support financially needy students pursuing a 2 year Associate’s degree or Trade Certifications.

 

Scholarship Eligibility:
You must:
- Be a resident of Cypress Hills/East New York, Brooklyn or Woodhaven, Queens
- Accepted into a 2 year college or trade school/program as a first time student for September 2024
- Participant in Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation’s Student Success Center programming (Franklin K. Lane or Thomas Jefferson campuses) or referred by the CHLDC Board/Staff
- Demonstrate financial need
- Demonstrate a history of community service, activism or volunteerism

Application is now open 

due August 2nd

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