ROCKFORD – The Rockford School Board on Tuesday approved contributing $100,000 a year to Rockford Promise to help the organization support our rapidly expanding roster of students at Rock Valley College, Rockford University and Northern Illinois University.

Since the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year, Rockford Promise has been raising funds to give full-tuition scholarships to RPS 205’s top students. Thanks to hundreds of local donors as well as major monetary commitments from the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois and the City of Rockford, the number of students Rockford Promise is supporting on an annual basis has grown from five in the first year to 187 for the 2021-2022 school year. In the fall, more than 200 new students will be added to the program.

Rockford Promise does more than just pay the tuition for the students. The organization recruits and trains mentors to help the students, many of whom are the first in their family to go to college, and the work has been increasingly challenging with just two full-time paid staff positions.

The commitment from Rockford Public Schools will help Rockford Promise extend the level of support its giving its current students to its future students.

WREX TV in Rockford detailed the growing partnership between Rockford Promise and the Rockford School District in this report.

RPS 205 green lights a yearly $100,000 contribution to Rockford Promise