About Us
Higher Achievement specializes in boosting academic success for youth during the pivotal middle school years, addressing educational and social needs by providing rigorous academics and meaningful relationships at the right time: middle school. Although there are many out-of-school time and youth serving organizations throughout DC, Higher Achievement is the only year-round program that focuses solely on the middle school years.
Our program consists of three main components, detailed below:
Summer Academy: Our six-week Summer Academy operates from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, five days a week and is chock-full of opportunities. Scholars have four core classes, focusing on academic concepts they will see in the upcoming school year. These concepts are taught through engaging, hands-on activities like mock trials, a model UN, a science fair, and community asset mapping. In addition to core academics, scholars take elective classes such as guitar, photography, and theater, and participate in weekly field trips, academic competitions and a one-day or three-day overnight college visit, where they experience college life by sleeping in dorms, eating in the cafeteria, and attending lectures.
Afterschool Academy: During the school year, our Afterschool Academy is offered two days a week, from 3:30 pm to 7:45 pm and one day a week from 3:30 pm to 6 pm over a 25-week period. Monday and Tuesday daily sessions include homework help, dinner, an arts or recreation elective, a daily community meeting, and 60 minutes of small-group academic mentoring. Volunteer mentors follow structured, Common Core standard-aligned curricula in math or language arts. On Thursdays, scholars participate in engaging seminars taught by outside professionals such as engingeers, nutritionists, scientists, and poets. Afterschool Academy also offers scholars the opportunity to take part in field trips, career shadowing days, and community service projects.
High School Placement: This third component helps scholars and their families identify and pursue accelerated high schools that will continue to challenge them and keep them on track to college. Staff members hold individual conferences with each eighth grade parent to review the student’s grades, answer questions, and make recommendations for high school. During the following fall, eighth graders have one mentoring session each week devoted to high school applications. Scholars are offered writing workshops, test preparation classes, interview coaching, application workshops, and financial aid information.