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MentoringPeer-led activities

Volunteer driven

Parent/familysupport

AchievementTutoring services

Understandingrelevance

Parent/familyreinforcement

CommunityContinuing education

classes

Culture and artsactivities

Youth sports and familyactivities

Meaningful Transitioninto High School

We can get ahead of the problemStudies show that the transition from middle school to high school is anespecially difcult time for students and families. It is the time between 6thand 9th grades when a student either stays on track for academic success andgraduation or lags in attendance and performance, increasing his or her chanceof dropping out. By focusing on middle schools, we can address the reasonsstudents drop out before they get in trouble.

Family Learning Centers are basedon two successful models that useextended school days and additionalprogramming to drive studentsuccessCommunity Schools andCharter Schools. In communities thathave employed one of these twomodels, academic achievement is

improved. For example, studies showthat for youth attending a CommunitySchool, those who participatedregularly in after-school programs hadsignicantly better attendance thannon-participatory youth. A study bythe Coalition for Community Schoolsshowed that in 15 out of 20

Community School initiatives, studenincreased their grades and test scoreA study by the Civic Committee showthat 34 out of 38 Charter Schoolscontained students who outperformetheir peers.

To keep kids on track for graduationthrough middle school and into highschool, United Way will use FamilyLearning Centers to target the threemain predictors for high schoolsuccess: attendance and academicachievement in grades 68, successfultransition into high school (grade 9)and family engagement at all levels.

Family Learning Centers will extendthe school day in the early morning,

evening and on weekends. Theselonger hours mean more time that kidshave the opportunity to be in schoolsand engaged in meaningful learningactivities, and more time for parentsto be involved with students at school.

Morning and afternoon Centeractivities will focus on child care,nutrition, physical activity and other

activities for students, youngersiblings and parents. After school,Center activities will link to corein-school curriculum through creativeprogramming and service learningprojects. After 5pm, the Centers willfocus on more intensive one on onecoaching and mentoring for studentswith local business professionals andother adult volunteers. Eveningactivities will also focus on adult

learning and workshops for parentsand families, including nancialliteracy training, nutrition educationand computer literacy training. Wraparound services like health screeningsand immunizations will also be offeredduring convenient times for parents.

On weekends and in the summer,

Family Learning Centers will continue

to provide workshops and trainingsfor parents, including teachingparents how to become advocatesfor their kids and showing parentshow to create learning environmentshome. For students, weekend activitimay include eld trips, study suppormotivational speakers, sports and saplay, arts and cultural activities, writiworkshops and other creative and fuactivities that can enrich learning and

show the relevance of core curriculumWith all of these componentsworking together in a coordinated wastudents will be prepared to make asuccessful transition into high schooand will continue to be supported anengaged through graduation.

The experts agree

Change can happen

Graduation

& WorkforReadiness

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You can count on usUnited Way is uniquely positioned to do this important work.

As the number one non-governmental funder of health and human services

in Chicagoland, United Way has the experience, scope of knowledge andrelationships to bring the right partners to the table to help our kids. Theserelationships are important because Family Learning Centers are not justhouses for community programs, but instead, are community hubs whereprograms and services are coordinated to help kids succeed within thecontext of in-school achievement and parent and student needs.

Heres why were the right fit for the job

We know the issues and the players because we work at the intersectionof state and local government, CPS and local school districts, the City ofChicago, nonprot organizations, foundations, private funders, corporations,civic leaders and other community stakeholders.

We can build a solid framework to create community-level change becausewe have relationships with experts at more than 275 community agencies.

We know how to choose the best, most effective community partnersbecause we evaluate and measure results for more than 700 fundedprograms.

We can create a sustainably funded model because we have relationshipswith Chicagos top funders, corporations and most inuential people.

We can make our communities strongerWe cannot ignore kids and communities in need. Every child has the right

to an education, and its our job to make sure they get that opportunity.Thats why we are bringing Family Learning Centers to communities thatneed the most help and that show the most promise for change.

We will launch ve centers in ve communities across the Chicago Metroregion. Our efforts will be focused in specic geographic areas based onneed, community assets, infrastructure, support services and graduationrates. Specically, we will look at communities in the city and suburbs withdrop out rates as high as 70%.

By focusing on communities of need that also have assets to help spurchange, we can make sure Family Learning Centers are sustainable longterm. For example, some communities have good resources and strongcommunity partners, yet there is a huge decline in attendance when studentsreach their rst year of high school. This is often because, unlike middleschool students, high school students are given more freedom and haveless structure at school. Parents are often unsure how to support theirchildren in education at this level. By creating a Family Learning Center inthese communities we can address this problem by moving upstream andhelping students and their families before the high school years.

Our Vision is BoldUnited Way has four goals

for our community

1) Kids are ready to learn by kindergarten

2) Youth graduate high school on time

3) People live longer, healthier lives

4) Families are financially stable

Reducing the dropout rate by

50% would result in $200 million

in additional wages for the local

economy, 10,000 new homeowners

and 50% of new graduates

continuing on to higher education.

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High School dropouts earn an

average of $400,000 less over

a lifetime than their peers with

a high school diploma.

A Community InvestmentIt is far too costly for our community, and our kids, to allow the dropoutcrisis to continue. Investing in Family Learning Centers is an investmentin the community.

Estimated annual cost per Center: $400,000

Because were utilizing an existing capital asset (schools) we are able to keepstart-up and operational costs low. The $400,000 price tag is inclusive of allstafng, programming and operational expenses.

Taking an active role, United Way will employ and manage locally-basedcoordinators for each Center. These on-site coordinators will ensure the

meaningful coordination between programs and relevant coordination within-school curriculum. To ensure the best results, United Way will fund ourmost effective agency partners to implement programs like mentoring, parentworkshops, career counseling and other wrap-around services. Each of thesepartners will be evaluated at regular intervals to make sure the programs areachieving results.

Prior to the rst year of operation, United Way will build a data managementtool to capture participant progress. We will also use our public relationsexpertise and relationships to build ground support for the Centers throughfree or donated advertising, public service announcements, viral marketingand grassroots techniques.

Our kids are worth itDoesnt every kid deserve the opportunity to grow into someonegreat? You can be the catalyst in changing the statistics.

Please help Chicago children and youth build better futuresby supporting United Way Family Learning Centers.

Your investment is not just great for kids and families, but for ourcommunities, our economy and the future of Chicago business.

United Way

of Metropolitan Chicago

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