When we entered Riverview Gardens High School in the fall of 2019, we fulfilled a promise made to the Riverview Gardens School District (RGSD) to serve all 13 schools and 5,500 scholars in the district. After adopting our first RGSD school in 2015, we announced early in 2017 that we were teaming up under an initiative called “Project Graduation” to provide a continuum of support for all RGSD scholars throughout their educational journey. The aim is to close the achievement gap of underrepresented students and prepare them to be college, military or career ready when they graduate.
On Sept. 26, we celebrated this extraordinary partnership with a reception and ribbon cutting ceremony, which was followed by our first school-wide student career fair spotlighting about 40 local companies and educational institutions.
“Our partnership with The Little Bit Foundation is a prime example of how we strive to level the playing field for each of our scholars. We are able to support their needs thanks to innovative, dynamic and committed community partners, such as Little Bit,” Dr. Scott Spurgeon, Superintendent of RGSD, says. “Little Bit’s efforts to improve the Pre-K, elementary and secondary school experience for our scholars has been amazing to watch. In just two short years, Little Bit has touched all 13 of our schools and become part of the RGSD family.”
“Ensuring every scholar has the opportunity to walk across the stage to receive their diploma and go on to fulfill their dreams has been our ultimate vision since Little Bit’s journey began in 2001,” Rosemary Hanley, Little Bit CEO and Co-Founder, says. “Riverview Gardens has made great strides, and with this partnership, we have created a unique model that we expect will strengthen scholar academic performance and post-graduation success. We believe the scholars we serve have the potential to break the cycle of poverty and marginalization for future generations – and their education is key.”
Hanley describes the model as a “continuum of support,” helping to provide for RGSD scholars’ basic needs (uniforms, shoes, hygiene items, etc.), ensure health and wellness, and promote literacy and STEM learning. In the high school, Little Bit is offering additional programming, including mentoring for incoming freshmen; career exploration through career fairs, internships, work study programs and more; skills development and service learning projects – a portfolio of services based on best practices, dropout prevention research and scholar focus groups at Riverview Gardens High School.
