Queen City Scholars

Delaware College Scholars Expansion into Charlotte

What is the program?

Queen City Scholars (QCS) is the Charlotte Expansion of the Delaware College Scholars Program. We academically and socially prepare high-achieving, under-resourced public high school students for successfully applying to, succeeding in, and graduating from four-year colleges and universities. Preference is given to first-generation college students. Our special sauce and core distinguishing feature is that we provide a residential summer experience for three consecutive summers - we enable scholars to gain the lived experience of being away from home while layering the academic, social, and college access support and knowledge. This is something that no other program offers within the Charlotte ecosystem.

Why Charlotte?

Since starting DCS in 2014, we have provided our unique residential experience to nearly 400 students in Delaware. We began serving students in West Charlotte High School in 2020. We are committed to Charlotte because of the legacy and family of our founding Board Chair, Paul H. Harrell, Jr. and because Dr. Tony Alleyne began his career in education with Teach for America, Charlotte at Martin Luther King Middle School in the Hidden Valley neighborhood. Thus, the program expansion to Charlotte aligns perfectly for DCS.

Meet the advisory council

Watch the video below to learn more:

What do we do?

Residential Summer Program for 3-consecutive summers (starts summer after 10th grader through summer post HS Graduation). Program continues to track and support scholars in college as well.

Summer session is free of charge to participants. Include room and board, transportation, nearly a dozen college trips, academic remediation/enrichment, SAT/ACT Test Prep, 1-on-1 college counseling support, college application/essay curriculum, and more!

During school year, QCS staff conducts bi-weekly site visits to participants at their home school (regular check ins and meetings are also conducted virtually as well).

12-Month Vision

We intend to scale our growth in Charlotte.

Currently: We are completing our third year partnering with West Charlotte High School.

Short-term Vision: By Summer 2024, we plan to onboard 2-3 new high school partners in AND 2-3 community-based program partners. Through these partnerships as well as continuing to accept more West Charlotte students, we intend to enroll 70+ scholars for QCS by Summer 2026.