LaunchPad Initiative
The Details
We have to listen to what the data tell us, and it’s screaming “start younger.” Currently, in Charlottesville City Schools, around 42% of Black and under-resourced students are reading at or above grade level.
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The Virginia Community School Framework (VCSF) is a product of the Virginia Department of Education that seeks to remove nonacademic barriers to learning as a means to enhance student academic success.
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Our pilot model, in partnership with Charlottesville City Schools and Venable Elementary School is born from this framework, centered around creating opportunities, empowering individuals and families, and providing wrap-around services to students and their parents to address documented deficiencies in reading, math, behavior, and attendance.
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OUR MODEL
Branches of Support
Basic
Needs
Provides community referrals to service providers, events, and organizations. Assists families with connecting to the appropriate organizations and helps facilitate registration processes.
Emotional & Mental
Health
Includes parental support through individual and group sessions. Student support entails individual check-ins, lunch groups, access to ReadyKids counselor & more.
Family & Community Engagement
Includes Family Events and school-wide family learning challenges, assistance with transportation/applications
/home learning, monthly
in-home visits & more.
Student Engagement & Motivation
Includes specialized after-school enrichment activities, trips, and groups based on student needs, scholarship and enrollment assistance for activities, weekly check-ins & more.
Steps to Success
Research shows that a student's reading ability in 3rd grade is a directional predictor of future success.
Data demonstrates that around 300 minority city school students are reading below grade level. Similar data also shows that truancy among under-resourced and minority students is above 25%. Step 1 to helping our youth meet academic benchmarks is getting them in school consistently, making education a priority.
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It's critical we scale this program quickly to meet the totality of the need at Venable and the other 5 local elementary schools. We can't afford to wait another day.