North East Area Development | Rochester, NY
Project LEAP
Project LEAP: Literacy Engagement and Achievement Program for at-risk urban males is a joint community/school-based program that will provide wraparound services for children in the Rochester 14609 zip code (Beechwood Neighborhood) one of four (4) neighborhoods designated a Focus Investment Strategy Neighborhood by the City of Rochester (https://www.cityofrochester.
The proposed program will provide direct services to 210 children for 2 afternoons a week (Monday and Thursday) plus one Saturday a month during the school year (for a total of about 200 hours of direct services per child), while also leveraging two existing summer programs (Horizons at University of Rochester The LEAP program is characterized by: (a) targeting African-American and Latino males in elementary school who are most at-risk of dropping out before they are exposed to years of negative behaviors and their consequences; (b) capitalizing on formal and informal learning environments to build academic skills as well as confidence as learners; (c) providing individualized literacy instruction to selected students to achieve the goal of having them read at grade level by 3rd grade, and (d) developing families’ and the neighborhood’s capacity to better support their students through programming mentoring and outreach for the entire family. As such, the program mission statement involves a holistic approach that provides engaging opportunities outside of the school day for students and their families to improve quality of life, increase academic success, and decrease negative behaviors leading to suspension and crime. Listen to the Coalition’s podcast with NEAD’s Executive Director, George Moses