Programs

Outreach creates programs based on schools’ needs

Rather than approaching a school with a set agenda, we find out exactly what resources are needed to help their students succeed and then we go out and find those resources.

• If it’s afterschool programming, we sit down with school leaders and design a schedule of classes – from cooking to dance to computers and more – then we seek volunteers and paid partners who can provide those classes when needed.

• If it’s tutoring, we design the kind of tutoring program that the school wants, whether it’s during the school day, after school hours, or during the summer.

• If it’s school beautification, we seek volunteers to paint, plant, and beautify dreary campuses.

• If it’s a highly specialized need, we may develop a completely new program like Power Ties, which came about as a result of a school’s need to teach 8th graders about career options and job search skills.

Over the years we’ve developed a strong expertise in some specialized programming streams but continue to change and grow based on schools’ changing needs.

The diversity of our programming is matched by the diversity and dedication of our volunteers

Parents, grandparents, college and high school students, business professionals, public servants, artists, and other interested community members volunteer through Outreach in order to help improve public education. A full-time school outreach coordinator develops and coordinates these activities at each school, where they ultimately become woven into the school culture.

New Orleans Outreach Programming Includes:

Healthy Habits

A healthy eating, nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle program designed to serve as a “tipping point” for students to recognize ALL potential healthy habits, from eating and exercise to studying and choice of friends. Healthy Habits curriculum infuses topics such as health, fitness, and nutrition as well as conflict resolution, drug and alcohol abuse prevention, and bullying, with the goal of having students learn the benefits of having healthy habits and the consequences of not having them. The goal of this program expansion is to continue developing and implementing Healthy Habits curricula and for significantly expanding the professional development training that Outreach provides for its paid instructors, community partners, volunteers, and school teachers. Aspects of Healthy Habits curriculum appears in all New Orleans Outreach programming.

Enrichment Classes

A variety of classes, from robotics and ecology, to horticulture and history, plus a myriad of art courses, music, dance, and intramural sports.  Every year Outreach offers more than 150 of these classes, during school, after school, and during the summer.  Outreach employs local instructors, professional artists and musicians, as well as trained community volunteers to teach them.  Once Outreach’s programs are fully implemented at a school, students may choose among the wide variety offered in Outreach partner schools.

Power Ties

A volunteer driven career awareness / drop-out prevention program for 8^th graders and high school students that incorporates resume writing, job search and interviewing skills, college readiness, introduction to the workplace, a power lunch, as well as college and job site visits.  Power Ties provides many participants with their first exposure to the working world and the wide range of possible careers that they may pursue if they stay in school and apply themselves.

Data-Driven Tutoring

Nearly every day, teachers collect data regarding their students’ academic performance.  Typically, this information is used to track performance over the long-term.  Outreach’s Data-Driven Tutoring program uses that data to identify students who are struggling to learn specific skills and then links them with tutors and specific lessons to address those needs before they become problems.

Early Childhood School Readiness Program

A community-based program that addresses the issue of school readiness for four- and five-year-old children.  Its goal is to develop a lasting collaborative relationship between New Orleans public charter schools and childcare centers in order to ensure children’s successful transition from pre-k to kindergarten so that readiness gaps do not become academic achievement gaps and to increase their chances for success throughout their school years and later in life.

Other Services Include:

• Site Specific Curriculum Design
• Academic Day and Afterschool Programming
• Summer School Programs
• Volunteer Recruitment (incl. background checks)
• Volunteer Training, Placement, Support & Recognition
• Teaching Assistants
• Reading Programs
• Human Resources support (contract teachers)
• Management of Outside Community Partners
• Grant Seeking, Management, & Reporting