The Scholarly Newsletter
Summer 2026 Edition
Congrats Kayla… Smith College Class of 2030!
Over the past year, our Senior Scholar, Kayla Khaleel has been working hard on completing her college applications. Her hard work and dedication paid off with many acceptances including her top choice, Smith College. Kayla received a scholarship from Smith that will cover her tuition and room & board for the next four years! We congratulate her for this amazing accomplishment and wish her best of luck next fall!
Welcome Our New Intern and TA!
Claire Sartorious
Claire is a Freshman at Bucknell University and will be working with us this spring and summer as a Marketing & Development intern.
Rishi Mirchandi
Rishi is a 10th grader volunteering as a Teaching Assistant this spring in our Personal Finance Class.
A look Into Student Life
Our scholars engage in plenty of other enrichment programs outside of the classroom, gaining hands-on experience and prepping for life in college.
Looking Back Into Winter and Spring
Leadership Workshop
In January, students attended our annual Leadership Workshop, where they had the opportunity to reflect on their personal, academic and professional growth. They started off creating Vision Boards, reflecting on their academic, personal and professional goals for 2026. Having prepared their resumes and “60 second pitch” in the fall, students were prepared to practice in our first-ever speed networking workshop! Students met professionals from various industries to practice their networking and interview skills. As always, the students worked together on a community service project supporting the Bridges Outreach organization. Students packed over 60 meals that will be delivered to people experiencing homelessness in New Jersey. They ended the day with a yoga session at Home Power Yoga with our favorite yoga instructor, Hillary Irwin.
Big thanks to our volunteers from The Pingry School & Summit High School for setting up and participating in the entire event.
Debate Tournament
On March 14th, students competed at an NYC regional Debate Tournament in Brooklyn with students from high schools throughout New York City. Thanks to our partnership with Brooklyn Debate League, scholars practiced for months in their weekly debate class led by teacher Brendan Gorman. Filled with fear of public speaking and anxiety among so many unknown students, our Scholars pushed through and supported each other throughout the entire tournament. It is these skills that help students find their voice, learn to build and deliver arguments with credibility and get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Personal Finance Workshop
On March 29th, students traveled to The Co-Co in NJ for a fun and insightful personal finance workshop, focusing on building real world skills and financial confidence. Scholars also heard from our special guest Mona Mahajan, head of Investment Strategy at Edward Jones, who shared insights about navigating the world of finance as well as building a meaningful career. They completed a personal finance diagnostic, played a competitive Budget Survival Game, and had engaging conversations with our panel of finance professionals.
Big thanks to our volunteers from The Pingry School and the entire Personal Finance team for putting on a highly interactive and engaging workshop.
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Performing Arts Showcase
On April 11th, students took the stage to showcase their acting skills by delivering monologues and scenes at Fidi Creative in Manhattan, NY. Under the direction of their performing arts teacher, Ciaran McConville, students performed monologues by Shakespeare, Lin Manuel Miranda, Sylvester Stallone and more. After months of hard work and practice, they delivered an unforgettable performance, where their characters were brought to life. Despite their challenges with stage presence and anxiety, students shined in the spotlight and developed vital life skills such as memorization, finding their voice, and improvisation!
Thanks to our Fundraising team, we raised over $3000 to support the Showcase!
Thanks to our volunteers from The Pingry School for helping create a wonderful event.
Summer Celebration
Students, teachers and interns came together for a great summer celebration where we went to the Whitney Museum to view an exhibition called “Unititled” (America). We had the chance to reflect on our accomplishments within Gotham Scholars, acknowledging student achievements, milestones reached, and the incredible dedication that each member of our community has shown throughout the year. We also wished one of our beloved teachers, Sara a farewell for her contributions to Gotham Scholars!
Scholar Spotlight: Shian James-Harden
Our college scholar Shian James Harden, Junior at Spelman College, spent her spring semester in South Africa studying International Relations in The Global South. Her first time out of the country, she joined a group of Spelman students in an engaging exploration of South Africa’s history, school system, agriculture and way of life. Making cultural connections with local residents and conducting her own research project, Shian has grown both personally and academically because of this incredible opportunity to travel abroad.
Shian in South Africa
Whole Student Support
Building Your Story Workshops At Gotham Professional Arts Academy
Gotham Scholars is taking college access on the road and leading workshops with all of the students at our partner schools on topics such as building their story, personal statement writing, and making the most of your summer.
Earlier this year, had a “Build Your Story” workshop at Gotham Professional Arts Academy, where students explored ways they are able to contribute and reflect on who they are as a student, resulting in an authentic story for college admissions. We will be hosting two more workshops this spring that will teach them about the importance of extracurricular activities and making the most of their summers.
A Look Into the Classroom
College Seminar: Historical Horrors and Art As Resistance
This spring, students are continuing to focus on historical horrors by looking into different types of tragedies, artwork, highlighting personal stories, and describing how these voices are used as resistance.
By the end of the year, students will complete a research project on historical events and tragedies such as the Manila Massacre, The Yazidi Genocide, the Khmer Rouge Genocide, and more.
Personal Finance
This March, students began their Personal Finance course with our new teacher, Ayana Field Ridley, and our two TAs, Rishi Mirchandani and Rohnik Shah. Each cohort will dive deeper into understanding smart spending, budgeting, financial literacy, saving strategies and more.
Personal Finance at Gotham Scholars is a 3-year curriculum that builds financial knowledge and awareness to help students better prepare themselves for financial independence.
Performing Arts
We kicked off 2026 with a brand new Performing Arts pillar at Gotham Scholars! Since October 2025, students have participated in workshops led by teacher Ciaran McConville exploring acting technique, improvisation, storytelling, influence and more. Students engaged in office hours working with TA’s and Ciaran to prepare multiple monologues and scenes for our first ever Performing Arts Showcase.
Leadership Class
Our scholars began taking their monthly leadership course to learn communication skills, active note taking and college classroom participation, and professional speaking and writing skills. Through guest speakers, college speakers, panels and video lectures, capstone projects and more these students develop leadership skills that will help them in college and beyond.
College Access Kickoff with Juniors
This January, we kicked off our College Access curriculum with our juniors. Throughout the spring, students participate in classes and workshops to build their college lists, starting brainstorming their personal statements, and attend college info sessions/virtual visits.
What's Coming Next
Summer Intensive
June 29th - July 17th
Students will spend the summer completing hands-on sessions by exploring, creating, and building skills that go far beyond the classroom.
College Bootcamp (Juniors Only)
August 3rd-14th
Our rising seniors will spend two weeks preparing, working on college applications, writing essays, and visiting schools.
Summer Reading
At Scholars, we encourage every student to READ, READ, READ over the summer. We will be launching our annual summer reading contest with students and sharing book picks throughout the summer.
The NY Public Library publishes summer reading for teens. Feel free to check it out and get started!
Support Gotham Scholars
Gotham Scholars does not charge tuition or program fees. Your gift is critical to the programming we provide our students from technology to teachers and college visits to extracurricular activities. From the bottom of our hearts, we appreciate you belief in what we do, your passion for equity in education and most importantly our scholars!
95% of your donation will go directly to student impact programming. Every dollar counts!