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Urban League of Northwest Indiana will guide $1.1 million summer reading program

Contributed By: The 411 News

Five weeks of reading and math tutoring for 750 students in grades 1-9

Indianapolis – The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) recently announced four recipients of the Expanding What Works grant, a new opportunity designed to increase access to high-quality summer programming for over 3,000 Hoosier students.

The Urban League of Northwest Indiana is on the list and is slated to receive $1.1 million.

“The Urban League of NWI is pleased to be identified as a regional partner in support of the vision of Dr. Katie Jenner and The Indiana Department of Education, The Mind Trust, and The Lavinia Group to provide five weeks of reading and math support for first through ninth-grade students, under the Student Recovery Grant - Expanding What Works,” said Urban League of NWI President and CEO Dr. Vanessa Allen-McCloud. “In collaboration with DHB & Associates, Ltd. who wrote and will coordinate this grant opportunity with us, we are poised to advance student achievement in Gary, Indiana.”

DHB & Associates, Ltd. and Infinite Accounting & Taxes as CPA will provide regional oversight to 20 organizations and agencies to support the Student Learning Recovery Grant-Expanding What Works Initiative during summer 2024.

DHB & Associates will engage up to 750 students in Gary and the NW Indiana region.

The program is 5 weeks and includes 20 instructional days in sites across the region. The team will work with each learning site to ensure employees are trained in and utilize the Lavinia Group’s curriculum and will enroll and engage students in a 20-hour-a-week tutoring and academic support program.

The Urban League’s Federation of Block Clubs of NWI and HOME Mentoring & Tutoring are the identified anchor partners who will assist with registration and enrollment of students into the program to fill each site with up to 75 students.

The grant encourages regional collaboration between community organizations, local nonprofits, municipal partners or local school corporations to expand the successful Indy Summer Learning Labs (ISLL) initiative across the state, specifically targeting students with the greatest academic need.

"We have put a lot of focus on making sure the financial investments we are making show a return on investment for our students," said Dr. Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education. "This is a prime example of seeing the impactful results and leveraging what we have learned to scale those opportunities statewide so that more students have access.”

The other 2024 Expanding What Works grant recipients are Boys and Girls Clubs of St. Joseph County in South Bend ($3,750,000); Creating Avenues for Student Transformation (CAST) in Salem ($115,073); and Wabash County YMCA in Wabash ($396,000).

Story Posted:02/22/2024

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