King County Promise is an initiative supporting historically underserved young people to graduate high school and succeed in college. By engaging King County school districts, community organizations, and community and technical colleges in intentional partnerships, the Promise initiative works toward an equity-focused education system and supports students as they pursue college goals. 

After selecting two partnerships for the initial phase of the King County Promise initiative, the program officially launched in July 2022.  

The Promise Model

The Promise program model supports students to achieve specific milestones, including college readiness, college enrollment, college retention and college completion: 

  • College readiness: After enrolling in the program, students participate in college readiness activities, receive help applying for financial aid, and get support to earn a high school diploma or an equivalent credential.  
  • College transition and enrollment: Students participate in orientation programming before starting college. Advisors then help students navigate course placement and make educational plans.  
  • College retention and completion: In their first year, students take a college success course. Promise staff provide on-going advising and navigation supports to help students stay on track. Students receive an Equity Grant of $1,000 to help with expenses.  

The Promise partnerships selected for funding in 2022 work closely with the Puget Sound College and Career Network (PSCCN), which leads program implementation and system alignment efforts, provides support to foster strong partnerships, and gives technical assistance to build capacity among partners.  

Since the program launched, Promise partners have been hiring staff, developing service delivery plans, working together in partnership, recruiting young people into the program, and beginning to offer direct services to students and their families. 

First Year Highlights 

Throughout the first year of programming, Promise partnerships have shared the impact of the initiative. 

Collaborative Bridge Programming at Highline College 

Highline College and Northwest Education Access collaborated to host a “bridge” program for incoming Highline College students. This event brought young people to campus to engage with Highline Promise navigators and to build community connections with their peers. 

“We are thrilled for the opportunity and support from Highline College to bring students together before the quarter starts to create a peer network of support.” said Angela Pierce-Ngo, Program Director at Northwest Education Access. 

Outreach and Engagement With Community  

Promise partners connected with community through events to share about King County Promise and recruit young people into the program.  

“Our outreach and discussion with the youth about this program has hyped many community members in knowing that there is hope of navigation in college for their children. They know that we will be here to support them. And the immigrant and refugee parents are even more at ease.” said Emmanuella Shasha, Chief Operations Officer at Congolese Integration Network.  

In-person Partnership Retreats  

Both partnerships have had opportunities to come together in person for retreats that centered relationship-building and program development.  

“The retreat proved to be a pivotal event in establishing better connections among staff, bringing everyone onto the same page and facilitating a more cohesive approach… This sense of unity and shared purpose bodes well for the program’s continued success in nurturing student potential and promoting positive educational outcomes for all.” said Krystal Welch, Director of Cohort Learning Communities at Highline College. 

First Year Learnings 

Along with the many successes throughout the year, there has also been significant learning. The following are a few of DCHS’ takeaways from this first year of Promise implementation: 

  • Partnership work can be transformative work, but funders should build in ample, intentional time for partners to grow relationships and trust. In addition to time for relationship and trust-building, funders should ensure adequate time and resources for partners to thoroughly plan service delivery before jumping into program implementation. 
  • King County Promise was designed in partnership with community members, but much has changed since the initial program elements were developed. The impacts of COVID-19 on young people and the institutions and organizations that support their educational journeys cannot be understated. The realities of the current landscape made some of what was designed theoretically less practical when it came to actual implementation. In addition, significant reductions to PSTAA revenue projections have necessitated reassessing the initial, ambitious Promise program design. DCHS has worked with PSCCN to right-size programming and clarify roles across the project.  
  • The issues that King County Promise aims to tackle are varied and complex. While it’s not possible for this initiative to solve all the challenges that students face all at once, Promise partners can phase in additional support as times goes on and resources increase. With that, the scope of work for Promise partners should match the level of funding provided for each phase of the program. 

Promise is one of the three strategies identified in the Implementation Plan for Investment of Puget Sound Taxpayer Accountability Account (PSTAA) Proceeds. PSTAA was created by the Washington State Legislature and directs that Sound Transit 3-related funds be used to improve educational outcomes.  

To learn more about PSTAA legislation and the community engagement process, check out the King County PSTAA webpage.