REACH SCHOLAR AWARD 2009 - 2010
AGREEMENT AND WAIVER INFORMATION

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS AND PARENTS

About Rewarding Achievement (REACH)

The mission of REACH is to help high achieving, low-income and minority students succeed academically in high school, go to good colleges, and earn four-year college degrees. To fulfill this mission, REACH gives incentive scholarship awards to students at participating inner-city high schools in New York City who earn passing scores (3, 4, and 5) on Advanced Placement (AP) exams—and helps them pass by providing academic and professional enrichment to thousands of students and their teachers. (Many colleges and universities give credit or advanced standing based on top scores on AP exams; this can potentially save students thousands of dollars in tuition costs.)

REACH Scholar Awards

Students at schools designated as "Full Participant Status" and "Probation Status" can earn REACH Scholar Awards of $300, $400 and $500 for each score of 3, 4, and 5, respectively, but only if they attend all three sessions of LEARN, EARN, WIN! (LEW) for each AP subject in which they are enrolled.

Students who do not attend all three sessions for subjects in which LEW is offered, are eligible for REACH Scholar Awards of $100, $125, and $150 for each score of 3, 4, and 5.

Students who earn scores of 3, 4, and 5 in non-LEW subjects (such as Art History, Spanish Literature, etc.) are eligible for REACH Scholar Awards of $100, $125, and $150.*

Your school has been designated as a "Probation Status" school.

REACH Scholarship Challenge

One major change to the REACH program is that schools must increase the number of AP exams passed by 10% each year in order to continue participating in the program (this past year, increases in passes at all REACH Schools collectively equaled 20%). Schools that fail to meet this "challenge" may:

be put on Probation Status.
be moved to Relegation Status.†
be dropped from the program altogether.

In making decisions about which schools will be invited to participate in the program next year, REACH will look at AP
exam score data first and then will take into account a number of other factors, such as a school's AP performance in previous years, the number of students and educators who participate in LEW and professional development programs, and expansions or reductions in AP offerings at particular schools.

Eligibility for REACH Scholar Awards and LEARN, EARN, WIN!

To be eligible for REACH Scholar Awards and to participate in any REACH-sponsored activity, including LEW, students must register online and submit a signed Application Form in a timely manner. We will give students until November 30, 2009 to complete online registration, beginning in early October. The online process is very simple, and there will be no exceptions for late applicants.

Beginning in January 2010, REACH will host LEW at Baruch College in 15 AP subjects:

Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, English Language, English Literature, Environmental Science, European History, Macroeconomics, Physics B, Psychology, Statistics, US Government, US History, World History

REACH will distribute the complete LEW schedule by email and will provide schedules to AP teachers and schools.

Once a student's registration is approved, REACH will provide each student with a REACH ID.

Students who successfully complete participation in LEARN, EARN, WIN! AP workshops:

Students who do not successfully complete participation in LEARN, EARN, WIN! AP workshops:
are eligible for REACH Scholar Awards of $300, $400 or $500 for each qualifying AP exam in LEW subjects

are eligible for REACH Scholar Awards of $100, $125 or $150 for each qualifying AP exam in LEW subjects
39% = last year's pass rate in Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, English Language, English Literature, European History, Physics B, Statistics, US Government, US History and World History for the 2,300 students who participated in LEW

17% = last year's pass rate in Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, English Language, English Literature, European History, Physics B, Statistics, US Government, US History and World History for students who did not participate in LEW
are eligible for raffled door prizes, including $100 gift certificates, cool college gear, and iPods

are not eligible for raffled door prizes, including $100 gift certificates, cool college gear, and iPods
must attend all three full-day Saturday workshops at Baruch College

• there will be VERY LIMITED exceptions for nonattendance: religious observance, illness, SAT (not SAT Prep), scheduled college visits

• if a student is sick, s/he must report this to REACH by the next Tuesday after an absence

• in all approved cases, students will be required to document any absence and make up Study Hall hours for time missed

all students are encouraged to come to any of the Saturday workshops (provided they have registered for REACH), and may pick up free AP materials on any Saturday, if they are available

students with conflicts with other programs are encouraged to come to as many Saturday workshops as they can make, but will be eligible only for REACH Scholar Awards of $100/$125/$150
will work with some of the best national AP experts and teachers and have access to free AP materials, books and resources, including a comprehensive curriculum designed to help students do well on AP exams

• 39% vs. 17%.. You decide.
• $500 vs. $150. You decide.
• $400 vs. $125. You decide.
• $300 vs. $100. You decide.

Major Penalties:

A student may jeopardize the potential value of his/her REACH Scholar Award:

Lost or forgotten REACH ID = $20
Late to LEW = $20
Failure to bring REACH textbook: $20
Truancy or Misrepresentation = SUMMARY DISQUALIFICATION

REACH will subtract penalties from any REACH Scholar Award that a student may earn.

Additional Terms and Conditions

Each student applicant must completely read the Agreement and Waiver Information together with his/her parent/guardian.
After reading the Agreement and Waiver Information, each student applicant must register online. Students will be asked to provide REACH with important background information, including name, home address, telephone number, e-mail address and other personal information.‡
Each student applicant must complete and return the Application Form to his/her AP teacher by November 30, 2009. Each Application Form must be reviewed for accuracy and signed by:

(a) student applicant; (b) student applicant's parent/guardian; and (c) each of student applicant's AP teachers.
Students who do not register are not eligible for REACH Scholar Awards or to participate in REACH activities.
For students enrolled in more than one AP course, s/he should submit only one Application Form to any of his/her teachers.
Students who received a REACH Scholar Award for an AP Exam last year are not eligible for another award in the same subject. (One exception: for Calculus BC, a student who scores a 1 or 2 can still earn a REACH Scholar Award of $300(completes LEW)/$100 (does not complete LEW) for a score of 3 or better on the AB subsection, provided that the student has never scored a 3 or better on Calculus AB.)
Each student applicant agrees to fill out mandatory online REACH Surveys completely and timely during the school year. These surveys are critical to the REACH program and help REACH understand our student population better.
Each student applicant agrees to inform REACH of any change to an e-mail address or other background information by emailing REACH@nycup.org.
It is important for REACH to communicate the importance of academic rigor in high schools that serve students from lowincome backgrounds. Each student applicant and his/her parent/guardian understands this and authorizes REACH to use the student applicant's name, voice, likeness, image, photograph, and/or any other source of information about the student applicant's academic achievement, in program materials, promotional materials, and other works, including, but not limited to, internal publications, third-party publications, video commercials, media coverage and internet displays.
Each applicant and his/her parent/guardian understand that REACH is a privately funded program, and that it reserves, and explicitly does not waive, its right to modify any rules or policies associated with the REACH program. Each applicant and his/her parent/guardian also understand that REACH reserves, and explicitly does not waive, its right to resolve any disputes related to REACH Scholar Awards.

* All AP exams are eligible for REACH Scholar Awards, except the six foreign language exams: Chinese Language and Culture, French Language, German Language, Italian Language and Culture, Japanese Language and Culture and Spanish Language.

† Students at Relegation Status schools can earn $100/$150/$200 for each score of 3, 4, and 5 only if they complete LEW. In 2010 - 11, students at Relegation Status schools will be ineligible for Scholar Awards in any non-LEW subject.

‡ REACH will securely maintain the confidentiality of this information and will only disseminate this information with the appropriate consent of the student or parent/guardian, in compliance with applicable federal and New York State laws.

REACH SCHOLAR AWARD 2009 - 2010 AGREEMENT AND WAIVER INFORMATION