Nine Seniors Earn Four-Year, Full Ride College Scholarships

Nine APS seniors earned four-year, full ride scholarships to attend college.

Posse Scholarships
Two seniors were selected to receive a four-year, full-tuition scholarship from The Posse Foundation to attend a partnering institution.

Arlington Tech at the Arlington Career Center

• Amy Fabara – Lafayette College

Yorktown High School

• Kamel Barghouti – University of Virginia

The Posse Foundation recruits and trains outstanding young people from urban high schools and sends them to top colleges and universities as part of supportive, multicultural teams or “Posses” of 10 students. In addition to the scholarship, students receive comprehensive programmatic support throughout their time in college.

Students are nominated by either their high school counselors or a community-based organization. Students participated in a rigorous selection process, called the Dynamic Assessment Process, from September through December. The process included three rounds of interviews.

At the end of the interview process, each student met with a team of representatives from the college or university of their choice, including the Dean of Admissions, tenured faculty and the school’s president. The students were then selected through collaboration between Posse staff and the partnering institutions.

QuestBridge Scholars
Seven seniors were named QuestBridge Scholars and will receive full four year scholarship to a partnering university.

Arlington Tech at the Arlington Career Center

• Adriana Sparks – Columbia University

Wakefield High School

• Luliya Tewelde – Notre Dame
• Eva Zidan – University of Virginia

Washington-Liberty High School

• Meryem Khadrouni – Columbia University
• Henessis Umacata – Upenn

Yorktown High

• Ribka H. Desta – Stanford
• Franklin Claure – Dartmouth

QuestBridge Scholars is a college and scholarship application process that helps outstanding low-income high school seniors gain admission and full four-year scholarships to the nation’s most selective colleges. Award winners are provided a scholarship that covers the cost of tuition, room and board, and require no parental contribution.

Founded in 1994, QuestBridge is a national nonprofit based that connects the nation’s most exceptional, low-income youth with leading colleges and opportunities. By working with these students — beginning in high school through college to their first job —QuestBridge aims to increase the percentage of talented low-income students attending the nation’s best colleges and to support them to achieve success in their careers and communities.

All nine students will be recognized at an upcoming School Board meeting.