SOAR: Empowering San Diego's Youth to Reach New Heights

The Scholastic Opportunity for Academic Readiness (SOAR) Afterschool Program is a dedicated literacy and learning initiative that aims to close the educational gap for Kindergarten to third grade students facing academic challenges.

The program’s innovative curriculum will be a mixture of a literacy-centered curriculum, personalized tutoring, and homework assistance. Engaging academic learning will be paired with art, cultural exploration, word games, mindfulness practices, and other enrichment activities. SOAR is designed to meet children where they are academically by catering to both auditory and visual learning styles and providing one-to-one academic case management that tracks and responds to individuals’ needs throughout the program.

Why SOAR is important:

Test scores for economically disadvantaged San Diego Unified School District students declined by 4.1% in English and 7.7% in Math, exacerbating already stark academic performance disparities from their more affluent counterparts. The potential long-term impacts of this imparity cannot be underestimated. Disadvantaged students with low reading proficiency are more likely to drop out of high school and less likely to go to college. According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, high school drop-outs are 5x more likely than graduates to be arrested in their lifetime, and ⅔ of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare.

SOAR Curriculum will provide a robust curriculum focusing on literacy skills, aiming to elevate academic performance in reading and writing.

Goals of SOAR:

Improve Academic Performance in Reading and Writing
Enhance Multidisciplinary Academic Achievement
Improve School Attendance Rates
Facilitate Comprehension for English as a Second Language (ESL) Learners
Create a Safe and Constructive Learning Environment

How Your Donation Will Make a Difference

Your generous donation will directly support SOAR's mission to empower San Diego's youth.
Here's how your contribution will be used:

Individualized Support: Donations will enable us to provide personalized academic case management, ensuring that each student receives the support they require to succeed.

Socioemotional Wellness: Your contribution will help us offer essential tools and resources to promote students' well-being.

Curriculum & Enrichment Activities: Donations will support continuous curriculum development and a variety of enriching activities that will help students develop a well-rounded education and broaden their horizons.

Testimonials from parents whose children have participated in our literacy summer program last year:

“My child has come home excited about the work they are doing. They struggle with reading and writing, so it's great to see them excited about it.”

“My daughter enjoyed going to camp every day. It was an excellent balance of reading, writing, and fun. She looked forward to going every day and is already asking when she can do it again.”