PhillyGoes2College!

Have you heard about Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter's new educational initiative? It's called "PhillyGoes2College," and here at Academic Access, we think it's a great idea.

As a way to increase the education level of the average Philadelphian, Mayor Nutter has created a new office, PhillyGoes2College. The office will be a resource for high school students (or anyone else who may be interested) to get information on the ins and outs of going to college, like how to obtain and fill out an application, or how to figure out those tricky financial aid forms. The initiative was announced in early January, and the office opened today during a press conference and ribbon-cutting with the mayor himself. It is located in City Hall and now officially open for business, so feel free to stop on by and see for yourself!

The office:


Mayor Nutter cuts the ribbon:


Contact the office:


For more photos of today's exciting launch event, check out our photo album on the Academic Access Facebook page.

It's exciting to see a great idea become a reality, huh? A very exciting part for us is that Academic Access' own Joan Koven has volunteered her time and expertise to help out with the initiative. Along with others from the educational consulting field in the Philadelphia area, Joan will be helping staff the office and provide services to Philadelphia's aspiring college students.

We're all looking forward to seeing PhillyGoes2College become a great success!

The New and Improved Academic Access

Those high school seniors who were working on applications in our office in December got to experience the beginnings of a transformation. Of course, there was the transformation from stressed high school kid to excited college applicant, but more superficially, they saw Academic Access take some big steps into the 21st century with the addition of our new Technology Center and some general revamping of the office.

For those who know the office well, you may remember a closet in which we kept files and student paperwork. Not much to look at, but functional.

Before:


So, how can we make it better? The answer: a little bit of vision, and a lot of renovation. So in came a construction crew to turn a closet into a room.



Don't forget the wiring for some new technological additions to the Academic Access family...


And at last, after a few finishing touches (which included new paint and carpet for the whole office and some serious tech upgrades), we had a Technology Center and an upgraded office to match.

The Technology Center is equipped with a flatscreen TV as well as a laptop and hi-def webcam. This will serve as a private room for meetings and/or video-conferencing for those clients who live further away or whose schedules don't allow for regular trips to the office.


On a more basic level, it's one more table and four more chairs (plus a door that can be closed) that will give more space and privacy to our clients.


As mentioned above, the rest of the office got a few upgrades too. Like we finally got rid of the old tube TV and upgraded with a new flatscreen, which has already proven useful in our meetings with juniors and their families.


Can you believe that next to that water bottle used to be just a closet?


We're looking forward to sharing Academic Access' increased accessibility with you for many college application seasons to come!