Latino Educational Achievement Partnership

Nuestra Escuelita - Dual Language Preschool:The 2022-2023 school year was a huge success. We served forty eight 3 and 4yr olds in 3 classrooms. We began the implementation of a project-based approach which has allowed students to bring their own knowledge and interests to the classroom and to become experts in what they are learning about. It also proves to be a best practice for dual language vocabulary development. Each family received a bilingual portfolio at the end of the school year that highlighted each individual student's strengths, special interests, learning preferences, and group work. Portfolios serve as a keepsake; but more importantly, they offer caregivers professional documents that can be used to begin the relationship with the student's future school and teacher once they leave LEAP.

LEAP Tutoring:Tutoring continues to be one of the most highly requested resources for Latine students in Durham. In 2022-2023, LEAP continued to offer virtual tutoring to support both volunteers and families who wanted to limit exposure to COVID-19. We provided one-to-one tutoring to 14 Durham students in grades K-8. Many families and volunteers appreciated this option's flexibility as caregivers can be home attending to other tasks while their students receive critical academic support. Multiple studies conducted since the start of the pandemic have found that high-quality virtual tutoring is effective at supporting students who are struggling academically. We use an evidence based platform - Learning A-Z - to structure tutoring which takes place over zoom. Students who completed at least 12 tutoring sessions grew at least 1.3 reading levels.