Last June, 37 of 38 Poughkeepsie High School seniors who took part in the Marist Liberty Partnerships Program graduated on time.

Four of them are attending Marist College this fall and are receiving either half their tuition from the Liberty Partnerships Program or a $25,000 per year presidential scholarship.

The program resumed for the 2024-25 school year last week with between 25 and 30 students attending each day at Poughkeepsie’s high and middle schools.

The Marist Liberty Partnership Program is a dropout prevention college access program funded by the New York State Department of Education, one of 51 across the state. Its goals are to prepare students to complete high school, strive in college and be ready for post-graduate careers.

The local chapter was established in 1990 and generally serves 350-400 Poughkeepsie City School District students each year, providing academic, social and emotional support in partnership with local community organizations and businesses. Annually, more than 95% of local participants typically graduate.

Marist College students serve as tutors, mentors and volunteers, generally meeting with Poughkeepsie students during lunch periods and after school. Crystal Parkhurst, director of the program at Marist, called the college students “the bread and butter” of the program.

LPP, Parkhurst said, gives Poughkeepsie students “the opportunity to have conversations about college at an early age,” while also giving them “someone who is older, but not an adult, they can look up to and ask questions.”

Students are nominated or referred to the program in the fifth grade. They then typically stay with LPP through middle and high school. This year there are roughly 330 students already in the program who rolled over from last year, and more are expected to be added. Students in older grades can be added, though there is a waitlist. If the family of a fifth grader would like to nominate their student, they can email Parkhurst at Crystal.Parkhurst@marist.edu.

Because so many participants already have a familiarity with the program, in the opening weeks they can “focus on building positive relationships and building connections between the college and high school students,” Parkhurst said, “creating that safe space that they want to be a part of it.”

Last year, the Marist Liberty Partnership Program supplied 8,127 hours of after-school support, including academic assistance, mentoring and activities targeting structured social skills. The program staff also provided 756 hours advising students. The participants engage in field trips, college tours, workshops, leadership programs, middle and high school transition programs, and other virtual and in-person after-school and summer programming. Some of the elements engage the whole family.

Andrea Martinez-Lopez, now a freshman at Marist, credits LPP for helping set her on a path to success. She received guidance on college applications and homework, but also benefited from broader social and cultural experiences.

“We went to museums, Six Flags, roller skating – a lot of fun stuff,” she said. “It made me more outgoing.”

The program runs Tuesdays through Fridays after school, though there are also some Monday activities. There’s a parent meeting on the evening of Monday, Sept. 30, a virtual cooking class the following week, and a field trip for sixth-grade members on Oct. 14.

Separate from planned activities, though, the mentoring relationships formed between the Poughkeepsie and college students are sometimes the most powerful tool of the program.

Olivia Groucher explained, speaking with Liberty Partnership students helped affirm her desire to pursue education and psychology in college. She graduated last June as Poughkeepsie’s valedictorian and is attending Temple University. “The opportunities, the internships they talk about – or they’ll show me what they’re doing in class,” she said. “Everything always intrigued me. I always wanted them to tell me more.”