Yleana Secures $100,000 in Maryland’s State Budget!

Since 2020, the Yleana Leadership Foundation has been providing critical-thinking/content-remediation-focused SAT prep to students in Baltimore City Public Schools. We’ve been able to demonstrate the efficacy of our program on both students, by raising their SAT scores, and teachers, by improving their teaching practice! Students, parents, and teachers have been very excited by the score increases and the increased college options as a result!

Since 2021, Alyssa has been meeting with state legislators, Maryland’s governor, the Mayor of Baltimore, Brandon Scott, and foundation funders to try to secure a reliable funding stream that will guarantee ongoing SAT support to all students in Baltimore City. In January of 2022, Alyssa wrote a letter to Governor Hogan of Maryland, requesting state funding to continue and expand the service that we are providing for students in Baltimore. We are so very excited to announce that $100,000 was included in the Maryland state budget for Yleana to prep Baltimore City Public Schools students for the SAT!

• We raise the median SAT score in Baltimore by helping students to get the preparation they need to succeed

• We train teachers in student-centered teaching

• We decrease students’ need for college remediation

• We decrease student debt and ensure more students graduate college

We increase students’ academic performance and confidence! Hearing the kernel of truth in a student’s utterance makes the difference in creating a space where students are not afraid to fail and approach the test as an exercise in critical thinking.

Thank you, Governor Hogan, for recognizing the impact that receiving improved SAT scores will have on the future of Baltimore City students!!!