The 1950’s and 1960’s were terrible times in America. The civil rights struggle for people of color, poor whites, immigrants, and non-christians caused the country lots of problems. Medgar Evers, the 4 children at the 16th Street Church in Birmingham, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., & Jimmy Lee Jackson are just a few of the of the people that were slaughtered in America. America was at a crossroads, and the government and education communities knew something had to be done. These were the conditions that created the College Discovery Program in New York City.

The College Discovery Program was created in 1964 by a Resolution of the Board of Trustees from the City University of New York (CUNY), and launched the first year in 1965. One high school was selected in each of the 5 boroughs in New York City for the College Discovery Program. It was a small program in each of the 5 schools, and most students didn’t know there was a College Discovery Program in their school. In Manhattan it was Seward Park HS, in Brooklyn it was Thomas Jefferson HS, in The Bronx it was Theodore Roosevelt HS, in Staten Island it was Port Richmond HS, and in Queens it was Jamaica High School.

The College Discovery Program as created by CUNY was essentially the New York City precursor of what would nationally become Trio Programs, student support initiatives helping low-income, first generation, and students with disabilities access and succeed in higher education from middle school through post-baccalaureate levels by offering tutoring, counseling, and financial aid guidance. College Discovery was a program for students that were high on the educational level, but would do better with smaller class sizes and increased educational guidance and counseling.

Trio Programs started with Upward Bound, Talent Search, and Student Support Services, but grew into McNair Schools, Educational Opportunity Programs, SEEK, Veterans Upward Bound, and other national and state programs. However, College Discovery created by a Board of Trustees Resolution by CUNY in 1964 was the first one in New York City.

There were 101 students in the first the College Discovery (CD) Program in 1965 at Jamaica High School, and the first class graduated in 1968.

This website delves deeply into that program, it's students, and it's instructors as it was a tremendous success. This is our history told by us, the students, classmates, and teachers of that victorious program. Please enter our website for the real story and history. This is who we were, what we became, and who we are.