NYC Kids RISE

NYC Kids RISE Providing families, schools & communities with a way to save together for their kids’ futures through the scholarship & savings program.

NYC Kids RISE is a nonprofit organization working to expand economic opportunity and equity for all NYC public school students.

09/17/2026

The energy was palpable in the West Bronx at Assemblymember Yudelka Tapia’s community fair. Yudelka Tapia, parent of four NYC Public Schools grads, shared a memory of the first time West Bronx kids got their NYC Scholarship Accounts, and how it began to cement in their minds that they belong in college and vocational training, and on pathways to the futures they can envision for themselves. This school year is another “first” — the first time in New York City history when nearly every child in a public elementary school will have an NYC Scholarship Account with money invested in a 529 plan.

The fair was a constellation of West Bronx institutions — many created by neighbors and serving kids and families for multiple generations — all showing up to reinforce support for their growth and learning this school year. Shout out to West Bronx Housing, School for Environmental Citizenship School for Environmental Citizenship, M.S. 447 Creston Academy, NYCHA, NYC Mayor's Public Engagement, FDNY, CitizensNYC, Literacy Partners, BioBus, NMIC, Donate Life New York State, Children's Health Fund, and all the cornerstones of the Assembly District 86 community rallying behind students.

09/09/2026

Out at the Brooklyn Public Library, Council Member Crystal Hudson teamed up with community organizations to connect with kids and families as they gear up for a very special school year that starts tomorrow! It’s the first school year in NYC History when nearly every public elementary school student will have an NYC Scholarship Account with money already invested for college and career training through the NYC Kids RISE Program. While today’s elementary school students won’t be starting college or vocational training until 2034 and beyond, these families are already introducing their kids to the money in their Accounts and to the neighbors and community champions who are cheering them on as they dive back into their studies this school year. Each student is hearing loud and clear that they are bound for big things when they graduate, and learning that the steps they take at school today can forge a path to their dreams for tomorrow, with support at every step of the journey. We’ll see you at school tomorrow, Council District 35! You got this, NYC!

In Mott Haven in the Bronx, the NYCHA Mill Brook Houses Resident Association, Mercy Center, Qualitas of Life Foundation,...
08/25/2026

In Mott Haven in the Bronx, the NYCHA Mill Brook Houses Resident Association, Mercy Center, Qualitas of Life Foundation, neighbors, local businesses, and community partners teamed up to host Mill Brook Houses Family Day with food, games, music, and community connections, including activities to encourage kids and families to engage with the money growing in each child’s NYC Scholarship Account for their college and career futures. Today, 169 NYC public school students living in Mill Brook Houses already have more than $43,000 invested for college and career training, and Mercy Center and Qualitas of Life Foundation are meeting with families 1:1 to support them to build on a “capital stack” of assets for their children. Families are saving in the ways and amounts that make sense for them, adding to the initial seed scholarship, Community Scholarships, and earnings. Thank you to Mercy Center, Qualitas of Life, and Mill Brook tenant leaders for helping all the kids at Family Day see and feel the support they have from their families, their school, and their neighborhood!

NYC schools will welcome students back next month, so New York Cares volunteers in Harlem have rolled up their sleeves t...
08/20/2026

NYC schools will welcome students back next month, so New York Cares volunteers in Harlem have rolled up their sleeves to pack 12,200 backpacks with school supplies for NYC public school students across the five boroughs. Each book bag gets the essentials to set students up for success in the new school year — notebooks, folders, crayons, markers, and pencil cases, and the QR code to activate and view the money in each student’s NYC Scholarship Account.

This school year, every student attending an NYC public elementary school, including participating charter schools, will have an Account with money already invested for their college and career training through the NYC Kids RISE Save for College Program. Kindergarteners can activate in the new year, while first through fifth graders can activate and view today. As students get ready for reconnecting with friends and learning new things, they’re also logging in with their families to see how their money has grown, and having planning conversations about their educational futures.

Thank you to New York Cares for leading the initiative — relieving the immediate burden of school supply costs while connecting families to long-term resources for their children’s futures. Check out our stories for where to pick up your free backpacks and school supplies! 🎒📓✏️

08/17/2026

Community Organizations across the city are working to use the NYC Kids RISE Program as a tool to support their kids to dream big and reach important educational milestones. Educational Alliance in the Lower East Side came up with an art show as a way to connect with kids and families in their neighborhood. While tapping into kids’ creativity, they helped students use art as an outlet to visualize their college and career dreams and make real-time connections to the community of support and tangible assets they have to pursue their goals. The art show has become a way for Educational Alliance to boost their kids’ belief in their own high potential and confidence in their college-bound identities.

Thank you to Bernadette Ortiz, Elementary School Program Director, and the Educational Alliance team for showcasing creative ways to reinforce kids’ emerging aspirations for the future, during afterschool, at home, and in the community.

Spend a day with NYC Public School Alumna Kristine Albano Garlisi, Chief Operating Officer of the The Nicotra Group, LLC...
08/13/2026

Spend a day with NYC Public School Alumna Kristine Albano Garlisi, Chief Operating Officer of the The Nicotra Group, LLC. and Executive Director of the Lois & Richard , and you’ll understand the power and brilliance of NYC Public School grads. 🌱Community roots take on a literal meaning as she looks out at her community from the that both supports Staten Island climate resiliency and grows thousands of pounds of organic, sustainable food for Lois and Richard Nicotras’ Staten Island social enterprise restaurants, and . The restaurants offer internships, job development, and second chance employment, and the profits from the restaurants go right back into investing in the Staten Island community where Kristine got her start attending P.S. 32 and I.S. 24 and growing up as the daughter of an NYC public school teacher.

Children and grandchildren of Nicotra Group employees and local students from high schools across the borough receive scholarships for their higher education, and whenever kids encounter a team member of one of the Nicotras’ Staten Island businesses, grantees, or the foundation, they see them wearing a pin that says, “LOVE Staten Island.” The borough pride reinforces for each child that everyone from the cook at their local cafe to their neighbor who graduated from their same public school believes in their potential.

Thank you to Kristine, the inspiring Lois & Richard Nicotra, and their Staten Island-based teams for welcoming NYC Kids RISE Founding Executive Director Debra-Ellen Glickstein to see a community in action.

At Mott Haven Houses Family Day on Saturday, NYCHA tenant association leaders and East Side House Settlement welcomed th...
08/11/2026

At Mott Haven Houses Family Day on Saturday, NYCHA tenant association leaders and East Side House Settlement welcomed their neighbors, kids, families, and community partners to a joyful celebration, fostering the kinds of connections that make their community a springboard of opportunity for their children.

Through the NYC Kids RISE Save for College Program, more than 140 children living in Mott Haven houses already have more than $30,000 invested for their future college and career training! Thank you to Resident Association President Ms. Deborah Aviles and Department Director of Elementary Programs at East Side House Settlement Ms. Ra-Daya Almeyda for encouraging Mott Haven kids and families to see and celebrate the money growing in their accounts for their futures, and sending them a clear message: your whole neighborhood has your back as you pursue your dreams!

“As an educator of 20+ years, I believe that our public schools are among the most powerful engines of opportunity and s...
08/04/2026

“As an educator of 20+ years, I believe that our public schools are among the most powerful engines of opportunity and social mobility that exist in our city. That is what makes the NYC Kids RISE Save for College Program so important. I’ve seen firsthand how you have woven the Program into the very fabric of your school communities—from teachers using to introduce financial literacy, to schools incorporating the program into graduation ceremonies, and so much more. Because every child in New York City deserves not only the opportunity to dream about their future—but the support, resources, and belief to pursue it.” – NYC Public Schools Chancellor Kamar H. Samuels Kamar Samuels

More than 450 NYC Public Schools leaders came together last week for the annual NYC Kids RISE Convening, celebrating remarkable momentum from the last school year and looking ahead to even greater strides for students’ futures in the school year to come. Throughout a meaningful day of reflection, learning, and planning, schools in every borough explored creative ways to incorporate the Program as a tool for college and career readiness, financial education, and school-to-community ties.

Hear more about it from Convening speakers: NYC Public Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, NYC Public Schools Office of Student Pathways Senior Executive Director Melanie Mac, NYC Kids RISE Founding Executive Director Debra-Ellen Glickstein, NYC Kids RISE Managing Director of School Networks Courtney Winkfield, PTA President and Lighting the Way For Our Leaders of Tomorrow Grandparent Eloise Bennett, Community School District 1 Community Education Council Member and Chair of the Title 1 Parent Advisory Councils at PS 20 Anna Silver and Quest to Learn in NYC Schools District 2 Goddezz Figueroa, Elijiah G. Stroud Elementary (Community School District.17) PTA Secretary and Parent Alicia Riques, and PS 257 Magnet School of Performing Arts (Community School District 14) Parent Diana Tavarez.

Thank you teachers, administrators, parent coordinators, and school communities for weaving this program into the very fabric of your schools and setting students on a path to achieving their biggest college and career dreams. And thank you to the NYC Kids RISE team for leading a spectacular Schools Convening.

07/28/2026

“When parents can see something they can actually take a hold of, it’s everything to them. It’s part of our own genetic makeup to provide that.” – Timothy Davis, Henry Street Settlement

For more than 130 years, Lower East Side families have turned to Henry Street Settlement as a partner in building for their futures, through housing, education, enrichment, health, and more. And families have never had to look far. In 1893, Henry Street’s founder Lillian Wald moved into the Lower East Side tenement where she provided nursing and coordinated schooling for her immigrant and refugee neighbors and their children, alleviating families’ need to take time off work and seek expensive opportunities outside their neighborhood. “Listening to and learning from neighbors” is still fundamental to Henry Street’s DNA.

Through the NYC Kids RISE Program, more than 3,000 NYC Public Schools students in the Lower East Side Community School District 1 already have nearly $700,000 invested for their futures, including a Community Scholarship from Trinity Church NYC and The Lower East Side Employment Network, the longstanding network of workforce development organizations — LESEN LES Employment Network. It’s a tool Henry Street is using to make sure kids and families know they have an ownership stake in their futures and the chance to plan for higher education and prosperous careers, starting in kindergarten.

Henry Street is reinforcing for children that their dreams matter, they have assets for their futures, and they have a whole community of support — at school, during their after school program, at their houses of worship, in their community centers, and at home.

Matthew is proudly showcasing a moment in NYC history! On his wall at home is a certificate celebrating that he is part ...
07/24/2026

Matthew is proudly showcasing a moment in NYC history! On his wall at home is a certificate celebrating that he is part of the founding class of NYC Public Schools NYC District 30 students graduating 8th grade and heading to high school with money already set aside for college and career training through the NYC Kids RISE Save for College Program. Matthew’s family shares that the certificate serves as a reminder to keep logging in and viewing the money growing in his NYC Scholarship Account and to keep planning for the future, knowing that there is a whole community of support for his college and career dreams.

Address

28-07 Jackson Avenue, 5th Floor
New York, NY
11101

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 8pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when NYC Kids RISE posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to NYC Kids RISE:

Shortcuts

Featured

Share