Open Doors of Asheville

Academics: We support students academically from kindergarten through graduate school. Driven by individual student needs, we provide in-school advocacy, psychoeducational testing, professional and peer-to-peer tutoring, Best-Fit school placements, college prep, and higher education mentorship and financial support. As the umbrella for our academic programs, our To & Through College Access and Completion Initiative focuses on four areas: 1) Educational assessments, tutoring, and BestFit schools in K-12; 2) Interest-aligned STEAM enrichment opportunities in K-12; 3) College preparation, access, and admission in grades 9-12; and 4) Support for college completion and post-graduation planning.

Enrichment: OpenDoors understands and champions the strong relationship between academic success and social and emotional learning. As a result, we work with partnering organizations to provide students with interest-aligned afterschool STEM and arts programming and day and overnight summer camp experiences. Fees, transportation, snacks, and lunches are provided for all activities.

AVL Rise: This peer-to-peer literacy initiative pairs high school students with elementary students. Working through the curriculum improves the reading skills of both the high schoolers and the elementary students. The high schoolers also participate in a broad swath of programming to improve their confidence, employability and leadership skills, such as classes in financial literacy, mindfulness, and hip hop culture and history. They take field trips to visit black-owned businesses, colleges and universities, and peers doing similar work in other cities. In addition, the tutors earn a living wage for their tutoring work.