Heights Graduation Celebration Honored 500+ Students 

Complete preparation
for college and workforce success

OUR PROGRAMS: HIGH SCHOOL

Take the next step of your journey toward exciting college and workforce experiences. With focused college and career advising, dual enrollment courses, and enrichment opportunities, Heights offers comprehensive high school services embedded in Philadelphia schools for year-round support.

School-based programming

Experience college and career advising, workforce exposure, and academic enrichment at one of our partner schools. Heights coordinators lead school-wide programming and deliver group and one-on-one advising to Heights’ cohorted students. 

Join 24 fellow students for intensive advising and additional programming and enrichment opportunities. Participants meet privately with advisors as well as in groups for regular check-ins. Advising topics include:

  • 10th grade: Pathways – career exposure, fit, and research
  • 11th grade: Postsecondary pathways – pathway plan
  • 12th grade: Postsecondary pathways – application, selection, and placement

Tap into FAFSA support, college trips, and career days. Participants benefit from preparation for the SAT and ACT.

Heights offers targeted, strategic academic enrichment opportunities to help build critical thinking and reasoning skills, strengthen writing abilities, and introduce students to the academic rigor and pace of college-level work.

  • Dual enrollment: 9th – 12th graders have the opportunity to take college courses while in high school delivered in-person, virtual, and hybrid during the summer and academic years. Over 600 students have taken college classes with Heights’ partner colleges, including Arcadia University, La Salle University, Saint Joseph’s University, Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, and West Chester University. 
  • Blended Learning Initiative: Learn to use Arduino-based robotics and coding, and apply advanced math and science concepts plus design thinking to complex problem solving. Offered alongside the University of Pennsylvania, these year-round college-level enrichment courses allow students to attain computer science certifications for a strong start in STEM fields. Spaces in the program are reserved for students from partner high schools.
  • Inveniam: Get free educational programming in computer science. Launched alongside Penn Engineering, this first-of-its-kind STEM equity and innovation lab gives socioeconomically underserved students a pathway to the college program — and the technology careers that will define the 21st century.
  • Robotics: Join a thriving program engaging students from the 6th to 12th grades. Designed to support Black, Brown, and female students in a field in which they’re commonly underrepresented, this program allows high school scholars to take their STEM work to the next level.

Through 1:1 counseling, résumé preparation, interview skills, job search strategies, and financial planning, Heights helps students create a roadmap to their career. We also connect students to industry-specific programs and internships in high school to build a pipeline to postsecondary jobs.   

  • Internships: 11th and 12th graders can join paid internship opportunities for greater career experience and exposure. More than 270 Heights participants are engaged in paid internships with partners including The Pennovation Center, Comcast, the Philadelphia Housing Authority, and Temple Health.

Summer programs

Tap into rigorous summer study collaborations with partner colleges. Students explore a variety of topics including writing, environmental science, and career exploration.

Financial support

Our enrichment programs provide stipends for all academic and career exposure programs serving 8th to 12th graders.

Ellis Trust for Girls

Through the Ellis Trust, Philly-area high school girls gain tuition assistance, college prep programs, academic enrichment, and other meaningful support.

Our high school partners

Abraham Lincoln High School

Carver Engineering and Science

Central High School

Constitution High School

Franklin Learning Center

George Washington High School

Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School

Kensington Creative and Performing Arts High School

Kensington Health Sciences Academy

Kensington High School

Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School

Murrell Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School

Northeast High School

Parkway Center City Middle College

Philadelphia High School for Girls

The Academies at Roxborough High School

W.B. Saul High School

William W. Bodine High School for International Affairs

Our vision for high school students

100%

of cohorted seniors will graduate from high school

75%

of cohorted high school graduates will immediately matriculate to college

100%

of cohorted students will participate in a career exploration program

See more of our program pipeline

Middle school

Enter a clearer pathway to high school selection with summer and weekend programs, tutoring, and advising.

College

Gain a college advisor and connections to greater resources — including career opportunities, stipends, and scholarships — at over 70 distinct institutions across the country.

Careers

Launch a life-sustaining career with a solid path to employment in a variety of industries, plus internships, mentoring, and other job opportunities.

Let’s bring a brighter future to life

Join Heights and see how far Philadelphia students can go.