PEAK - Partnership to Educate and Advance Kids

PEAK invests where nobody else does.

PEAK focuses solely on students in the academic middle with drive and character whose grades and test scores have kept them off the radar of selective programs. Each gets a four-year, full-tuition scholarship to a private high school and one mentor who stays the whole way.

Become a mentor Invest in PEAK Nominate a scholar

Serving scholars since 1998 · 501(c)(3) · Audited financials published

A mentor and a PEAK scholar holding an award certificate

A mentor and a PEAK scholar in boxing gloves at a PEAK event

A PEAK mentor and scholar smiling together at an event

50%

more likely to graduate than CPS peers*

100%

college acceptance rate since 2006

300+

PEAK scholars since 1998

5,400+

hours of relationship building in the ’24-’25 school year

+0.43

median scholar GPA gains, Classes of 2022-2025

* Based on CPS data for schools PEAK students would have attended.

How PEAK works

We know what works. We've done it for 28 years.

Since 1998, PEAK has surrounded every scholar with three things: a scholarship, a mentor, and experiences that build social capital.

Four years

Full-Tuition Scholarship

Scholars attend Holy Trinity High School on a four-year scholarship and receive a quality, values-based education.

Same mentror, all 4-years

Mentorship

Each scholar gets one mentor who stays with them. Pairs spend about four hours a month together.

Five events a year

Social capital

Mentor+scholar events put scholars in new settings and in front of new people. They build social awareness and interpersonal skills. The goal is to level the playing field between PEAK scholars and students from more affluent backgrounds, and to build the confidence scholars need to navigate their post-secondary life.

Map of Chicago with pins showing where PEAK scholars live across the West and South Sides, with high-vulnerability neighborhoods shaded

Where PEAK scholars live: across the West and South Sides of Chicago.

PEAK’s intentional approach

Equity through education and experiences

60%+

of PEAK scholars come from neighborhoods the city labels “high vulnerability”

Opportunity is scarce in these neighborhoods. Potential is not. Every PEAK scholar receives a full-tuition scholarship and a steady mentor for four years, someone who listens, guides, and pushes them forward.

At Holy Trinity High School, scholars gain more than classroom instruction. They gain experiences that broaden their horizons. Education becomes an equalizer for the students who need it most.

Know a middle school student who would thrive with PEAK? Nominate a scholar