Local Launches Ivy League Dream University Tour
First stop—Harvard!
By Kami-Leigh Agard
For many American families, your child’s admission to an Ivy League university is a pipe dream. However, local resident, Amira Beatty is fermenting the dream through her Rockaway Ivy League Dream Eight-University Tour. First stop—Harvard! Hosted by Beatty’s nonprofit, Beatty Babiez Childcare and Education Consulting Inc.—on Friday, February 21, 25 students, accompanied by a required one parent/caregiver chaperone, will get the ultimate Ivy League dream-catcher experience in Cambridge, Mass. Each university tour is absolutely free for accepted students, accompanied by their chaperone, but with a fundraising goal of $3,800 for each Ivy League Dream University tour, Beatty needs your help. Also, for applicants interested, seats are still available.
It may be true that the days of Ivy League schools’ legacy admissions (the children of alumni or big-time donators) are increasingly becoming a thing of the past. That said, the Ivy League is still largely composed of the wealthy elite, however, Beatty is striving for students of lower socioeconomic backgrounds to not just strive, but realize the dream.
Just last week, Fox 5 Good Day NY reported: “By the numbers: the class of 2025 is projected to be the largest class in the U.S. at around 3.9 million students since data collection began. The college admissions process has changed greatly in recent years. What any college looks at is not just your grades and your scores, but how many AP classes you’ve taken and how you stand out on the extracurricular. There can be up to 25 factors. Many are out of students’ control, like race and ethnicity, where they went to high school, what their parents do for a living, and where they went to college. So, grades and test scores aren’t always primarily looked at, especially since many schools are now test-optional and stopped requiring the SAT and ACT.”
As reported, a big factor is nailing the college essay or personal statement. Plus, not surprisingly—AI is increasingly becoming the tool that plucks out the supposed thorns from the roses. So, how does an Ivy League dream catcher stand out? According to Beatty, start by visiting the campus.
As a three-decade veteran special education educator and community advocate, Amira Beatty, M.S. Ed., knows. Since the late 1980s, she has worked extensively with children and families across diverse educational settings, specializing in developmental and behavioral disabilities. Her curriculum vitae is quite telling: bachelor of science in Special Education with a minor in Social Science from Medgar Evers College, where she was a Kennedy Fellow. Also, Beatty has a Master of Science in Special Education and professional diploma in Educational Supervision, Administration and Behavior Management from New York Institute of Technology. Additionally, she is a registered Behavior Analysis Technician.
Today, Beatty works with special-needs families as an independent Early Interventionist through the NYS Department of Health (NYSDOH), and certified Self-Direction broker for the NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD). Plus, she serves on several nonprofit boards including: Far Rockaway’s NAACP, Rockaway’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Inc. and Queens Community Justice Center.
So, though with these university tours, Beatty does not guarantee an Ivy League acceptance, she certainly wants each student to have the experience, free of charge.
She said, “I’m not saying that everybody on the Ivy League Dream University Tour is going to end up going to an Ivy League school. It’s to give students and their parent or guardian the exposure and motivation to want more. You don’t want your child, going to school just to be. You want your child to go to school to thrive. I’m sorry to say, the way the NYC Department of Education (DOE) system is set up, certain schools with certain teachers do promote thriving, but other schools in other locations and environments are all about just surviving.”
When asked what inspired her to launch the Ivy League dream tour, Beatty shared, “I did this years ago when I worked as a Suspensions Coordinator for special education. I was in a one-year suspension program site, then known as Queens Outreach, which doesn’t exist anymore. And those children needed motivation; they weren’t given the proper curriculum at the time. My job, when I transferred from Grover Cleveland High School, was to actually come in and coordinate special education services. I assessed the needs and put together a plan that would not only reach the special populace, but also the general student population.
“What became very obvious to me was that these kids needed to be motivated. They needed to see what was on the other side. Why do we want you to behave? Why should you behave accordingly? And some of the children talked about: ‘What am I gonna do once I get outta school? Why do I have to go to school?’ So, it just came to me that we want these students to shoot for the highest possible star. And for us, Ivy League schools are considered the best. So, with the Suspensions program, I said, ‘You know what? I’m gonna do something nobody’s ever done.’ To this day, none of the Suspension programs have taken these children to Ivy League schools. These are children, because of their severe behaviors, are not allowed to go back into their regular community schools. They have to do one year in Suspensions. The core of the program is supposed to be rehabilitation. Yet, when I worked at Queens Outreach, there was no rehabilitation program. The children weren’t even getting the proper services through the DOE. Plus, kids with IEPs (Individualized Education Program) were not receiving their services.”
Thus, Beatty became inspired to drive a dream into students and their families with something that may deem unattainable—an Ivy League higher education.
Each of the eight guided tours at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania, and Dartmouth College will enrich students with a chance to experience campus life, engage with admissions teams, and connect with current students and alumni. Plus, pre-college preparation including workshops on applications, financial aid, and scholarship opportunities tailored to the unique needs of low-income families. Also, invaluable mentorship and guidance: partnering students with college mentors and career professionals to support their journey from high school to higher education. And most importantly, family engagement, featuring informational sessions for parents to understand the admissions process and how to support their children in pursuing higher education.
Beatty said, “We’ll do a full walking tour of the campus. From checking out the historical spots, eating at the cafeteria, meeting with admissions and financial aid officers, and current students. Our students will not just dream, they’ll dream big!” Beatty said.
The Rockaway’s Ivy League University Dream Tour drives off to Harvard on Friday, February 21. To apply, interested student applicants have to submit a 300-word essay answering the following questions: Why do you want to visit Ivy League universities, and what inspires you about these schools? How would attending an Ivy League university help you achieve vour personal and academic goals? Which Ivy League university excites you the most, and why? Essays of interest should be sent to beattybabiez@gmail.com. Each participant must be accompanied by one parent or guardian.
As of press time, Beatty’s fundraising Zeffy platform has raised $400.00 for the $3,800 Harvard University tour’s goal. Folks, to donate and help a student and family dream big, visit: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/fundraising/donate-to-make-a-difference-in-the-lives-of-far-rockaways-youth-rockaways-ivy-league-dream-university-tours-1st-tour-harvard-university
For more info, email: beattybabiez@gmail.com or visit: BeattyBabiez Childcare And Education Consulting Inc. on Facebook.
