SHARING RESOURCES WITH KIDS WHO NEED THEM MOST
Leah Kimmet, executive director of Horizons Student Enrichment Program in New Canaan, Connecticut, was a Horizons teacher for 10 years before she shifted into the leadership position two years ago. In a telephone conversation with iR, Kimmet outlined the substance of the program, now in its 45th year, and explained why Horizons is inspiring similar programs across the country.
“The growth of Horizons is absolutely astronomical, especially the amount of change in the last 10 years. To understand its success, we have to look at its beginnings.”
The City-Country Vacation Group was founded with a mission to bring children from diverse backgrounds together for summer fun and friendship. “New Canaan Country School is a beautiful independent school. In 1964, then Head of School George Stevens and a group of passionate parents and teachers imagined the difference they could make if their students and children from low-income families came together for a comprehensive summer program that would provide academic, athletic, and cultural experiences.
“The Horizons Student Enrichment Program was designed around concepts of educating the whole child that were very different from the approach taken by the public schools. Over time, outcomes were studied by Yale University, which concluded that Horizons students experienced a huge benefit over their peers in the public school who were not enrolled in the program. We just wished Horizons could see the kids more than for six weeks in the summer—and so we launched year-round programming.
“Horizons provides activities and services these low-income parents cannot afford: tutoring, music, dance, healthy food, recreation, field trips. During the school year, our faculty work with the students in their own schools for an hour a week. As students grow older, the emphasis shifts from the whole-child approach to academics: we provide academic coaching and take them on college tours. It’s exciting to see children who are performing below grade level when they enter the program respond to this attention. Now 100% of Horizons students go on to college.
“Admission into the program is very competitive. Tuition is free; our students must qualify for free or reduced lunch in order to apply. Still, we are able to accept only 30% of those who apply. We work with guidance counselors and social workers to try to identify the kids who need us the most.”
Twelve years ago, Horizons went national.
“We were experiencing such success with the program that our Board decided they wanted to replicate Horizons in other locations. Over the past 12 years, we have established 15 affiliates that do similar work.”
Is it possible for the public schools to learn from Horizon’s success?
In Kimmet’s view, Horizon is successful because they offer small classes and personal attention. This is difficult to replicate in public schools. She observed, “Connecticut has the biggest achievement gap in the country. Summer is when the achievement gap worsens: while students in better circumstances go to rich summer experiences, the parents of our students work many jobs and are not home. The schools whose students we serve are in dire need. Yes, Horizons has been included in conversations with the superintendent of schools. But we’re successful because we’re small; warm and cuddly and small. We have no mandates, no national funding or public funding.
“There is one other factor that helps us succeed. We have many alumni working with us. Of 40 head teachers, five are Horizons alumni who are now certified public school teachers. Of the 40 teaching assistants in the program, 99% are Horizon grads, high school or college students who have gone through the same experiences as our students. I have some great literature to share if you’d like me to send it...”
This interview with Horizons took place only 11 weeks after inRESONANCE had installed SANDBOX, the solution for lower-school admissions, enrollment, and student information. The Horizons summer program was about to begin. Kimmet was enthusiastic about the difference SANDBOX had already made in her ability to manage the process leading up to opening day:
“I am so excited about SANDBOX,” she explained. “Our program is going to expand, and it is critical that we focus our energies where it makes the most difference. Already SANDBOX has made one of our most complicated issues so simple.
“Families of students enrolled in Horizons are very transient. Members of the household may have several different names. The kids may have different names from each other, and the adults may have different last names as well. Cousins and grandparents and uncles and foster parents may all need to be linked in the database. Before SANDBOX, I kept all this information in my head, so that when someone called us with a new telephone number or address, I had to know who else in our files would be affected. Now, in SANDBOX, everything is linked. When I make a change to one record, the change is automatically made to every linked record. I am super excited about how easy it is to manage this.”
Kimmet is enthusiastic about her ability to do her job more effectively: “We’re a small office. Our Administrator, Tatiana, is the one entering all the kids, linking records, making it possible to generate mailing labels for a family instead of my having to pull off all the unnecessary labels from memory before we process a mailing. It’s magical! We can easily find out who’s missing medical forms or other required documents and send out personalized reminders. We’ve never been able to do this before. SANDBOX is so easy to learn!”
The Horizons Student Enrichment Program is making a huge difference in the lives of its students; iR’s SANDBOX is managing small details that make a difference in the productivity of the staff. This is just the sort of partnership that makes inRESONANCE proud.
To learn more about Horizons Student Enrichment Program, click here.