Located in South Boston, the Patrick Gavin Middle School has a high concentration of low-income students?82 percent qualify for free and reduced-price lunch. Gavin students will benefit from a partnership created and organized by the University of Massachusetts (Boston) as part of the federal government's new GEAR UP program. Joined by Thompson's Island Outward Bound, the New England Home for Little Wanderers, the MJT Dance Company, and Boston Public Schools, the University of Massachusetts will provide a comprehensive set of services beginning in the 6^th and 7^th grades through high school graduation, including mentoring, tutoring, counseling, after-school and summer academic and enrichment programs, and college visits.

GEAR UP is a new federal effort to provide multi-year competitive grants to states and to local partnerships between colleges, low-income middle school and high schools, and at least two other organizations, such as businesses, community-based, religious, or parent organizations, and student groups.

GEAR UP is based on proven models of success, both large and small. Existing programs, such as I Have a Dream, Project GRAD and the Berkeley Pledge, demonstrate the success of incorporating the concepts of partnerships, school reform and scholarships into early intervention. These programs have helped to significantly improve low-income students' test scores and high school graduation and college enrollment rates.

In August of 1999, President Clinton announced $120 million in GEAR UP grants to 21 states and 164 partnerships of colleges and middle schools across the country. These grants will serve more than 200,000 disadvantaged children, encouraging them to have high expectations, stay in school, study hard, and take the right courses to go to college. Forty states and Puerto Rico, Guam and Micronesia received either a state or partnership grant.

Interest in the first year of GEAR UP far exceeded available funding. The numbers of grant applications in the first round were extraordinary?678 partnership and state grant applications, covering all 50 states, more than 4,500 organizations, and 1 out of 5 colleges in the nation. Only 1 out of 4 partnership applications could be funded with the current funding, and only half of the state applications.

GEAR UP differs from, but complements, established federal programs like TRIO in several significant ways. GEAR UP partnerships start earlier?no later than the 7^th grade?to ensure that more students reach high school having taken algebra and other courses needed for college, and follows students through high school. GEAR UP works with entire grades of students to transform their schools and school feeder systems rather than with individual students like the very successful TRIO program.