Our Achievers

We select our children, the “Achievers,” when they are in kindergarten through an intensive 6-week assessment process in association with teachers and counselors from our five partnership schools.  We observe their performance and behavior in the classroom, schoolyard, and cafeteria, and analyze their interactions with adults and peers.

We have established anecdotal statistics for our children showing that they are gravely affected by specific risk factors.  Of the 119 Achievers that we serve:

• 99% qualify for free or reduced price lunches
• 84% come from single parent homes
• 55% are offspring of teenage mothers
• 45% have a known parent who is or has been in prison
• 33% had no parent employed last year

Once we select the kindergarteners to invite  to our program, they stay with us for 12 years – until they graduate from high school.