LYNN — Lynn Public Schools has taken a giant LEAP through its partnership with an organization that offers afterschool programming for underserved youth and English Language Learners.
LEAP for Education (LEAP) received a three-year $250,000 Catalyst grant from Boston-based Wellington Management Foundation, which the organization is using to expand its free after-school program into Thurgood Marshall Middle School, according to Linda Saris, LEAP executive director.
The LEAP (Learn — Explore — Aspire — Pursue) program aims to help low-income and first-generation students succeed in education, career and life by providing a personalized and comprehensive approach that includes academic engagement, college and career readiness, social-emotional learning, and building social capital.
The program started in Salem and is now offered in Peabody and Gloucester. There’s a need for LEAP at Marshall Middle School, where 62 percent of students are economically disadvantaged, 91 percent are students of color and 60 percent have English as a second language. Of that 60 percent, 16 percent, or 245 students, are ELLs, said Marshall Principal Molly Cohen.
“I’m very, very excited about this program,” said Superintendent Dr. Patrick Tutwiler. “I think it reflects our commitment to students and a diversity of options for them after school, first and foremost, but it also reflects our commitment to developing partnerships with community-based organizations.”
Tutwiler said the program will teach 21st century skills and offer academic enrichment, college and career exploration, along with literacy programs for the school’s English learners. He said the plan is to refine LEAP at Marshall and then eventually expand it to Breed. Although the Catalyst grant only covers three years, Tutwiler said he expects the program will be sustainable for Lynn schools.
An additional $61,000 in grant funding from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will allow a smaller program geared toward English Language Learners (ELLs) to begin this spring, which will serve 20 students. Next fall, the program will expand to 60 students and will be open to all Marshall pupils, Saris said.
Lynn’s ELL program will be modeled after a successful one in Salem, where students learn English by getting into the community and taking on a service project. For instance, one project saw students collecting food and clothing for victims of last year’s gas explosion in Lawrence.
“We found that kids do not get to speak English too much during a classroom setting,” said Saris. “We really try to emphasize oral skills and get them more comfortable speaking around native speakers. It’s getting them comfortable speaking, trying to enhance their vocabulary and getting them out into the community.”
That hands-on civic work is one of the aspects of the program Cohen is most excited about. She said it will help connect students to their community.
Cohen said the school’s Sheltered English Immersion teachers do a great job using Title I funds, but the LEAP program will provide more resources for Marshall’s large ELL population. The cost of staffing will be covered by the grant and she expects Lynn teachers to be used for the program.
“This is a gap of resources LEAP can provide for us,” said Cohen. “It’s very exciting to just broaden the services we already had in place with additional funds that could offer things we couldn’t afford to offer.”
Other programming efforts are aimed at starting the conversation around college, in terms of letting students know it is an option for them. Students may not think they can afford college or that they are not smart enough, Saris said. The social-emotional learning aspect will teach students how to build relationships with their peers and adults, she said.
LEAP had wanted to expand into Lynn for some time, but Saris credited Mayor Thomas M. McGee, the former Senate chair of the After School and Out of School Time Coordinating Council, and Tutwiler for kickstarting the partnership. Both are strong advocates of after school programming and community partnerships, she said.
“Between the two grants, we now have the ability to move into Lynn and (are) able to sustain that program into the future,” said Saris. “It’s in our geography, which is Essex County, and we’re really excited to be going there.”
