SMART’s 32-week after-school program equips Scholars with the skills to succeed in school and in life through tutoring, mentoring, and a curriculum designed to bolster them academically and social-emotionally. Lesson plans address issues related to identity exploration, academic skills, social-emotional learning and self-care, high school and college prep, career exposure, social justice, and leadership. These lessons and activities help to build a community of peers with shared experiences that will persist through the eight-year program during middle school and high school.
Students attend the program weekly. It takes place at the SMART office Monday-Thursday from 4:30-7:00 PM. Being aware that transportation is a typical barrier to educational opportunities for our families, SMART provides a free bus to bring Scholars to our program space from their schools across the city.
Our partnerships with the schools attended by our Scholars enable effective tracking of academic and social progress. Each school assigns a liaison who communicates with SMART monthly regarding the academic standing and social-emotional well-being of each Scholar. The after-school program includes a volunteer tutoring and mentoring program in which each Scholar is paired one-on-one with a trained tutor for academic support.
