Latino Educational Achievement Partnership

BELIEVING IN THE POTENTIAL OF ALL CHILDREN, LEAP EMPOWERS LATINO AND OTHER CHILDREN IN DURHAM TO ACHIEVE ACADEMIC SUCCESS BY PROVIDING A HIGH-QUALITY PRESCHOOL AND ON-GOING SUPPORT THROUGH MIDDLE SCHOOL.

LEAP OPERATES TWO PRESCHOOLS FOR THREE AND FOUR-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN: NUESTRA ESCUELITA (OUR LITTLE SCHOOL), AND THE EDCI/LEAP ACADEMY (WHICH WE RUN IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DURHAM CHILDREN'S INITIATIVE). BOTH SCHOOLS OFFER HIGH-QUALITY PRESCHOOL ON A HALF-DAY SCHEDULE, SEPTEMBER - MAY. AT NUESTRA ESCUELITA, WE HAVE A "DUAL-LANGUAGE IMMERSION" APPROACH TO TEACHING LANGUAGE. NATIVE SPANISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS LEAD INSTRUCTION THE FIRST HALF OF EACH WEEK; ENGLISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS DO SO FOR THE LAST HALF OF THE WEEK, MIRRORING THE SAME CONTENT AND THEMES. DURING THE SPRING OF 2021, WE HAD THIRTY-SEVEN CHILDREN ENROLLED AT NUESTRA ESCUELITA, DIVIDED INTO THREE CLASSROOMS. TWELVE CHILDREN USED OUR BUS TO ATTEND SCHOOL IN THE FALL OF 2021, THERE WERE FORTY-ONE CHILDREN ENROLLED. TEN CHILDREN RODE THE BUS THIS SEMESTER. THE DCI/LEAP ACADEMY IS STRUCTURED A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY. THE ACADEMY HAS A "BILINGUAL COMPONENT", MEANING BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH ARE INFUSED THROUGHOUT THE CURRICULUM. TEACHERS SPEAK BOTH LANGUAGES EVERY DAY IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS. THEY HAVE ONE LARGE, MIXED-AGE CLASSROOM. THERE WAS A MORNING OR AFTERNOON OPTION IN THE SPRING OF 2021. THERE IS NOT TRANSPORTATION AT THE ACADEMY. IN THE SPRING OF 2021, THERE WERE TWENTY CHILDREN ENROLLED. IN THE FALL, THERE WERE TWENTY-FOUR CHILDREN ENROLLED. STUDENTS AT THE ACADEMY RECEIVED ONLINE INSTRUCTION IN THE SPRING OF 2021 AND BEGAN MEETING IN PERSON IN THE FALL OF 2021.

LEAP'S TUTORING PROGRAM SERVED THIRTY-NINE CHILDREN, AGES SIX TO TWELVE, IN THE SPRING OF 2021. IN THE FALL, WE ENROLLED TWENTY-EIGHT CHILDREN. OUR TUTORING COORDINATOR (A READING SPECIALIST WHO ALSO TEACHES AT DURHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS) TRAINS AND SUPPORTS VOLUNTEER TUTORS WHO USE AN ONLINE CURRICULUM CALLED READING A-Z, WHICH PROVIDES STUDENTS WITH INDIVIDUALIZED GAMES AND EXERCISES TO IMPROVE THEIR READING SKILLS. OUR TUTORS AND STUDENTS HAVE BEEN MEETING VIRTUALLY SINCE MARCH 2020. WE HAVE FOUND THAT MANY FAMILIES AND VOLUNTEERS APPRECIATE THE FLEXIBILITY OF A ONE-ON-ONE SCHEDULE AND MEETING FROM HOME.