RISE Program
RISE Program
- Sponsoring Organization: RISE Academic Empowerment
- City/State: Redwood City, Calif.
- Grant Program: Select Grant
- Grant Amount: $15,000
Project Summary:
A significant portion of families in the North Fair Oaks community of Redwood City experience language, transportation, and childcare barriers. This community, located in the midst of Silicon Valley and bordering some of the wealthiest zip codes in the United States, has 83% Latino residents and 23% of households speaking limited English.
Research has revealed that 67% of third-grade students in the North Fair Oaks community are not reading at grade level. Research has also shown that the overweight and obesity rates for the area are 63.5%, the highest in the county.
RISE Academic Empowerment is focused on creating lasting impact through education, empowerment, and engagement to ensure families in the North Fair Oaks community have the tools and support they need to thrive.
Programming for parents and students is offered each week simultaneously, alleviating childcare and transportation issues. RISE offers English as a Second Language (ESL) classes for parents. Parental advocacy skills, as well as specific vocabulary and strategies for communicating with healthcare and community professionals, are interwoven into ESL coursework.
Credentialed math and language teachers review standardized testing to identify students’ learning gaps, and each is provided one-on-one tutoring. RISE staff foster relationships with individual teachers and administrators to ensure tutoring reinforces classroom work and assessment data.
“Even amid great wealth, poverty and its influence can exist,” said Paul Miles, President and CEO of We Raise Foundation. “RISE Academic Empowerment champions those left behind because of language, food insecurity, and basic needs barriers. We Raise is proud to invest in them and their community.”
