FAFSA Challenge Winner: Sleepy Hollow High School (Mid-Hudson)

Jul 31, 2019 | Blog

Tarrytown’s Sleepy Hollow High School helps students complete the FAFSA with several events, including a Financial Aid Night for sophomores and juniors and a College Night for Spanish-speaking juniors and seniors.

The school also has a partnership with Latino U College Access, which hosts a FAFSA Boot Camp for seniors where trained volunteers, many of whom are bilingual, assist students and families in completing and submitting the FAFSA. The organization helps support bilingual and culturally relevant outreach to target students and families in need of support.

Sleepy Hollow also offers ongoing individual support to students throughout the year.

Julissa, who will receive the FAFSA Challenge scholarship, started high school enrolled in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and is excelling in all of her Honors and Advanced Placement classes.

During the school year, Julissa tutored students in ESL classes and is part of the ESL Ambassadors, a group of students at Sleepy Hollow who welcome new students and help them with their schedules and adjusting to their new environment.

She plans to attend Manhattanville College and major in psychology.

The school won the Challenge for having the highest completion rate among high schools with more than 100 seniors in districts outside of the Big 5.

The Challenge was part of The New York FAFSA Completion Project, a statewide campaign launched by Ed Trust–NY to encourage public high schools to increase the proportion of eligible low-income students who complete the FAFSA.

Explore data for each high school in the state, read more about FAFSA completion strategies being used at New York schools, and find additional resources at NYFAFSAChallenge.org.