STEP UP
Launched in 2003, Step Up is an in-school mentorship and academic support program serving students in Roosevelt, McDaniel, and Franklin High Schools.
Our students are personally supported by a Step Up Advocate all year through comprehensive tutoring, strengths-based advocacy, social-emotional support, character building workshops, and family engagement activities.
Program Highlights
Pre-Freshman Leadership Camp
In a one-week summer leadership academy, Step Up Advocates challenge youth to identify their aspirations and commit to working together towards those goals. Leadership and team-building activities reinforce students’ understanding of their capacity to achieve their goals through education and perseverance, all with the support of an Advocate.
These self-defined goals form the basis for their participation in Step Up throughout the following year. By the end of camp, students and their Advocates have formed close relationships based on mutual commitment to success in high school and in life.
Extended Academic Day Tutoring
Step Up Advocates partner with the school to offer curriculum-aligned after-school tutoring, continued leadership development, and close social-emotional support in small groups of 10-15 Step Up youth.
- Daily individualized tutoring and homework assistance forms the core of after-school activities. A carefully designed system of information sharing and accountability enables Advocates to track student assignments, grades, and course performance and share the data with their families and school leaders.
- Classroom teachers and Step Up Advocates become close allies in supporting student success. Advocates help bridge connections between classroom teachers and families, as well.
- Advocates lead youth in developing leadership and student success skills through group activities and individual counseling which focus on personal responsibility, conflict resolution, healthy relationships, organization, and study skills.
- Advocates have significant phone and e-mail contact with their students outside of the after-school sessions, to provide emotional support for challenges that interfere with school success.
Parent Involvement Activities
Throughout all components of the program, Step Up Advocates engage closely with parents and families to share student successes, strategize around challenges, and provide assistance in supporting their child’s success in school.