Founded in 1968, the Chappaqua Summer Scholarship Program invites up to 24 promising student scholars from under-resourced NYC schools to participate in the Scholarship Program in Chappaqua, NY.
Each scholar enjoys two sessions within a month (10 days each) of classroom work and extracurricular activities, designed to enhance the scholars’ lives, academically and personally. A minimum 85% grade point average is required for admission to the Program. For those invited, the Program costs nothing, and the scholars are hosted by a Chappaqua family for each 10-day session (Sunday to Friday) and return to their families for weekends. The Program includes lessons in creative writing, STEAM, and Shakespeare, as well as a host of activities, ranging from swimming, softball, nature study, and theatre. Chappaqua Summer Scholarship Program (“CSSP”) students commit to spend one month in three consecutive summers, in preparation for diverse lives after high school. The Program offers college essay preparation, and ongoing resources during the college application process. While in college, scholars receive yearly stipends from CSSP for materials. CSSP is a 501(c)(3) organization and is funded through private donations.
Our goal is to prepare our scholars for the rigors of college and beyond. For three consecutive years, these individuals attend academic classes at Horace Greeley High School in the mornings and participate in a range of recreational and cultural activities in the afternoon.
Our primary objective is to broaden horizons and expose our scholars to new opportunities. CSSP students have gone on to attend many wonderful schools including Babson, Brandeis, Brown, City College, Dartmouth, Fordham, Howard, Hunter, Pomona, RPI, SUNY Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, and Stony Brook, Trinity, UVM, Vassar, and Wesleyan.
Our graduates have joined the workforce in a multitude of professions. We have doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, counselors, and nurses among our alumni. Equally important, many graduates themselves continue to give back to their communities. Several alumni have returned over the years to speak to our scholars about their lives and work.
"This program is really one of the best ways that all of us can break down artificial barriers that too often exist."
-Hillary Rodham Clinton, CSSP commencement speaker, 2014