Until COVID-19, 200 UPO Foster Grandparents were annually serving 6,000 socio-economically disadvantaged children in Washington, DC. Engaged in-person tutoring, mentoring, and social emotional support assisting students in learning programs, proven outcomes were improved school readiness and K-12 success. The Pandemic over the past 18 months, with the closing of schools and the switch to virtual learning has changed the programs operation.
DC Public Schools will be back to in-person learning in 2021-22. Virtual learning has affected elementary students in Wards 7 and 8 academically, the early literacy gap has widened. Emphasis will be placed on overcoming the academic and social emotional learning impacts of COVID-19. Computer-based learning in the classroom will increase. UPO's Foster Grandparents serve 21 elementary schools in Wards 7 & 8 and will need intensified training in computer literacy and social emotional development.
Currently 25 Foster Grandparents are fully trained and 75 more will be trained during the next 6 months. Your generous support to meet our project goal of $20,000 will help us cover the cost of computer literacy and social and emotional training. Foster Grandparents role in the classroom will strengthen academic achievement and close early literacy and social emotional development gaps of elementary students in Wards 7 & 8.
In addition to the impact on the quality of the education of the elementary school students this program improves the long-term health and well-being of senior volunteers and circulates seventy cents of every program dollar into the local low-income DC communities. With a mission to Unite People with Opportunities, UPO's Foster Grandparents offer the right mix of academic acumen and nurturing, and give much-needed attention to the socio-economically disadvantaged children they tutor and mentor.
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