Summer Melt refers to what happens often in high schools, especially those with low-income students. Graduating seniors who have been accepted to colleges and look forward to going find that they are unable to attend, for this reason or that, when the time comes around. It has nothing to do with desire, and often it’s a small — but to them, insurmountable — roadblock in the way.
And though Abdullah’s seniors already have graduated, their futures are very much on her mind and part of her every day.
“It’s our task to get them there that first year,” she said during a recent phone interview. “It’s our responsibility to make sure there are no barriers.”
At Bowen, which has an enrollment of about 500, some 60 graduated seniors who have been accepted into colleges, both city and four-year institutions. The Bowen grads have been accepted to state schools, private universities and colleges out of state. And Abdullah and her team are determined to get them there.