Guilford County Schools (GCS) is set to receive $2.2 million in federal community project funding to expand learning hubs into the district’s middle schools.
GCS originally created learning hubs at 15 large, traditional high schools back in 2021 as a way to combat learning loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hubs provide a space where students can access grade-level content, tutoring, and general support before or after school.
GCS Chief Academic Officer Jusmar Maness says it’s still early to measure the full impact of learning hubs, but last year’s graduation statistics seem promising.
“When we saw the percent of students that graduated that attended learning hubs, versus the ones that didn't attend learning hubs, it was a significant rate,” Maness said. “The ones that attended learning hubs during that 21-22 school year, graduated at a rate of 96.3%. The ones that didn't was at 90.4%.”
This year, the district has plans to open learning hubs in 22 middle schools. Maness says these hubs will assist students, but also their families.
“We're also looking at really having a family engagement coordinator that, based on the community needs, can provide workshops for parents,” she said.
Those workshops might focus on topics like credit recovery, post-secondary education options and career pathways, but the presentations will vary depending on the needs of the families. Maness says the supports offered at a school with a larger English Learner population for example, might be different than those at other schools.
The district hopes to have these hubs up and running within 60 days of receiving the funding, and before the end of the school year.
Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.