The Houston Independent School District (HISD) Miles Ahead Scholars (MAS) Program was launched in October 2019 with a $22 million grant sponsored by Senator Boris Miles and funded through a Texas Education Agency Student Success Initiative (SSI) Community Engagement Grant. Scholars were mentored by men of color in the community who shared their personal and professional experiences with these scholars. Scholars received one-to-one counseling and academic support from instructional specialists. The first program cohort involved 60 ninth- and tenth-grade students from Wheatley, Worthing, and Kashmere high schools. An objective-based evaluation was conducted to determine the program effect after one year of implementation, while considering the disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, using quantitative data collection methods including a survey and quasi-experimental design methods. Overall, Miles Ahead Scholars demonstrated positive college readiness beliefs. This was particularly so for their understanding of what it meant to be college-ready and their belief that college admission was a reasonable expectation for them although there appeared that more than a third (39.5%) who had not yet identified the colleges they intended to attend. The results of the study suggest the need for the expansion and deepening of the program particularly at schools with similar demographic and educational characteristics.