As 2009 comes to a close, I take this opportunity to express our deep gratitude for your partnership.  Thanks to your support, YPIE has had a great year!   

Here are just a few of our accomplishments:

·        Opened two new college centers with another scheduled to open next month.  With five centers operating, YPIE is able to provide critical support to enable thousands of students to go to college

·        Launched Naviance, the state-of-the-art college and career navigation database in all Yonkers high schools, serving over 7200 students and their parents.

·        Enabled over 300 students to increase their SAT scores by an average of 18% through participation in YPIE's SAT prep program.

·        Delivered a second round of books to 8500 students in more than 

      350 K-3rd grade classrooms throughout the district.

·        Enabled nearly 160 hard-to-reach families to participate in Family Story Power, an intensive 12-week family literacy program.

·        Held a Drop-out Prevention Summit, in partnership with the Yonkers Public Schools, that attracted over 300 educators, students, parents, business and community leaders.

·        Hosted A Night of 25,000 Stars, our second annual gala, that drew over 425 people from throughout Westchester.

·        Raised over 100% of our projected budget in a recession year.

Your support of YPIE is increasingly important as our state education budget gets slashed and our community continues to wrestle with the challenges of poverty, high unemployment and economic uncertainties. Our vision remains constant - to work towards the day when every student in the Yonkers Public Schools has the educational access and opportunity necessary for a successful life.

Although we have surpassed our financial goal this year, we have a good distance left before we reach this finish line. Our success will be measured by more than a dollar amount; rather, we will celebrate success when all students in Yonkers graduate from high school prepared for college.

So again, I thank you for investing your time, your skills, and your financial gifts in Yonkers Partners in Education. We are honored and humbled by your generosity. I look forward to our continuing work together.

Happy Holidays!

Wendy Nadel

Executive Director