FOSTERING HIGH-QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL

Immediate Need

Our programming comprises two areas that make an immediate and daily impact on vulnerable populations in our community. The two programs, Fostering High-Quality Education for All and Fostering Hope for All, were created to impact homeless students, their families, and underprivileged and lower socioeconomic students in Central Florida. Everyone involved in the education industry (Teachers, Administrators, Parents, and Students) knows about the severe learning loss that has occurred since March 2020. School Districts, Charter School Management Companies, and Private School Administrators across the country have been scrambling to figure out how to get our students back on track. Since the start of the pandemic, school districts across the country have spent $1,700,000,000.00, or $199.00 per student, of their COVID-19 federal relief funding on online and in-person tutoring, according to data from FutureEd. FutureEd is a Georgetown University research center that analyzes COVID-19 relief spending. Unfortunately, despite the millions of federal dollars spent, the results are not exactly moving the needle, as our students still need severe help. Even more disturbing, it is projected that the pandemic learning loss could cost students $70,000.00 in lifetime earnings, which equates to 5.6% lower lifetime earnings. Your support is imperative to our community. We have been working diligently daily to improve the academic impact of missed instructional time while responding to all our student's academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs, particularly those disproportionately impacted by COVID. Your funding will be a beacon of hope for students from low-income families, students of color, English learners, children with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, children in foster care, and migratory students. Additionally, our programming supports literacy and remediation programs throughout our community for underserved students while providing books, supplies, college prep services, and feeding programs.

About Us

During these unprecedented times, Fostering High-Quality Education for All is honored to support students in Central Florida, help close learning gaps, and provide vital services to support elementary, middle, and high school students' well-being during these uncertain times. Post-pandemic, we are committed to supporting remediation and literacy programs to keep our students up from being behind due to the year and a half of academic learning loss from digital learning due to COVID. In addition, we provide brand new books to underserved students and books to schools that serve low-income African Americans and students of color to create classroom libraries. We also provide high-impact and high-dosage tutoring to provide targeted tutoring to our struggling population of students who might be struggling more in one subject area than another. In contrast, teacher-assigned tutoring allows schools to provide intensive support as needs arise. The personalized attention our students will receive will help pinpoint the root causes of their struggles while bridging gaps that will set up our students for a future of academic success and lead to the goal of improving grade-level reading by the end of our programming. Our programs will engage research-based practices and implement literacy-rich schedules for identified students that would benefit from these additional supports. Our tutors will utilize high-quality materials and practices to ensure every student understands phonics, basic reading skills, vocabulary, spelling, reading comprehension, word meaning, critical thinking skills, and other identified needs.

Our high-school program provides free PERT, SAT, and ACT testing preparation study guides and tutoring, complimentary breakfast and lunch during tutoring sessions, scientific calculators, up to five free college books for their first semester of college, gas cards, paid college application costs, and ACT/SAT waivers. Our high school programming will build critical thinking skills for our student's future higher education and post-high-school career endeavors.

High School Services

Providing strategies, advice, support, and guidance to students and their families from the application process throughout high school makes the best-individualized choice for college.
Assisting students in identifying resources for scholarships and financial aid for colleges and universities.
PERT, ACT, and SAT preparation/payment assistance.
Setting short-term and long-term academic and career goals.
Preparing Letters of Recommendation.
Mentoring services.
Armed Forces Recruitment Liaisons and ASWAB test preparation.

Program Goals

Providing books to underserved students to support literacy to combat learning gaps due to Covid and post-pandemic education slides.
Providing books to schools to build classroom libraries and supporting literacy programs to combat learning gaps due to Covid and post-pandemic education slides.
Providing consistent and personalized high-impact and high-dosage (offered three or more days of the week) tutoring to struggling, underserved students.
Providing PERT, SAT, and ACT preparation, including study guides, online access, and tutoring.
Providing nutritious and appealing meals while being served by caring professionals in a friendly atmosphere.
Focusing on closing achievement gaps and accelerating student reading achievement for our identified students.
Prioritizing the connection and well-being of our children and community.
Ensuring homeless children have access to education and other services that meet the same standards to which all students are held.
Ensuring all high school students of every race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and all socioeconomic levels have accurate information, tools, knowledge, and opportunity to attend the country's best colleges.
Getting 99%-100% of our students into some College (Technical, Vocational, Community, Junior, or University).
Ensuring children have access to academically enriching activities helps close the opportunity gap between higher- and lower-income families.

College Prep

Resources:

College Board (SAT) - Information about SAT I and II testing and scholarship searches
ACT Testing - Information about ACT testing, registration, and financial aid.
Postsecondary Education Readiness Test (PERT) - Information about the entry-level placement test required of all degree-seeking students in the Florida College System (FCS) according to Florida Statutes, Section 1008.30, Rule 6A-10.0315.
Fast Web - Provides financial aid and scholarship information.
Florida Shines - Information about FL universities, financial aid, and career counseling.
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators - Guide to financial aid and provides scholarship searches.
Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) - Provides information about financial aid.