Reducing the high dropout rate and closing the achievement gap: Critical Parts of LARASA’s Mission

by Polly Baca, President/CEO

Reducing the high dropout rate from high school and closing the achievement gap continued to be a high priority for LARASA during 2006. To meet this challenge, LARASA developed a holistic approach to education that incorporated a four-pronged strategy aimed at reducing the high dropout rate and closing the achievement gap for at-risk students.

First module

• Continued development of five learning centers associated with Hope Co-Op Online Learning Academy.
  
• Our learning centers are located in three different at-risk neighborhoods in the Denver metropolitan area.
  
• Serve 100 students in grades 6-12.

Second module

• Development of our Adult Education Program.
  
• PEP: improve the quality of K-12 education through a multi-faceted program directed toward Latino parents.
  
• Parenting for Academic Success (PAS).
  
• English as a Second Language (ESL).
  
• Adult Basic Education (ABE).
  
• Courses to obtain GED's and citizenship.

Third module

• Development of a Violence Prevention Program.
  
• Designed to meet the special needs of our at-risk youth.
  
• Benefits will ripple out to their families, neighborhoods and the community.

Fourth module

• Development of a Food/Nutrition Program for LARASA Learning Center students.
  
• Belief that healthy students are better able to learn.