Establish K-12 mentoring programs in your school
Economic hardship creates gaps in academic achievement from the earliest grades, with progress made by age seven often being determinant of future academic success.
Utilize aggressive recruiting efforts to establish robust mentoring programs, especially at low-income schools.
To get started:
Assess the type of mentoring (e.g., academic tutoring, technical, skill development) that will most benefit your students.
Design your program structure, determining if mentors will be adults, peer-to-peer, or a combination.
Partner with community members, civic associations, faith communities, local businesses, and nonprofit organizations to assist with program implementation, volunteer recruitment, and program promotion.
Best Practices / Innovative Programs
Rapid City School District in South Dakota partners with Rural America Initiatives, the city’s longest operating Native, private nonprofit, to provide a mentoring program to students in elementary, middle and high schools. It is led by American Indian mentors who are knowledgeable about Lakota culture.
Santa Fe School District in New Mexico provides a variety of mentoring programs, in partnership with community providers, that target elementary students, girls ages 9-12, and students in career pathway courses.
The Center for Supportive Schools created the Peer Group Connection-High School (PGC-HS), an evidence-based, school-based program to help students transition from middle to high school.
