St. Patrick's Episcopal Day School

Horizons Greater Washington's Partnership with St. Patrick's

Support the Supply Drive!

History

In May 2009, Horizons Greater Washington expanded to a second DC program site through its newly established partnership with St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School. Each summer, St. Pat's donates use of its classrooms on the second and third floors of the Lower School to Horizons' 5-week academic enrichment program. The majority of our 155 students who attend the St. Pat's site are students of Bancroft Elementary, H.D. Cooke Elementary, and several other local schools. In Summer 2023, we added the Bishop Walker School for Boys and Simon Elementary as sender school partners to the St. Pat's site to serve an additional 30 youth from DC's Ward 8. We are incredibly grateful to the St. Patrick's community for supporting this expansion. 

St. Patrick's high esteem for fellow Episcopal School BWS is longstanding. Our belief in Horizons' dynamic enrichment programs to advance educational equity is unwavering the intersection of the partnership between our three institutions supports St. Patrick's mission to recognize the infinite value of every individual. We are incredibly pleased that BWS scholars will join the Horizons site at St. Patrick's this summer.   - Jalene Spain Thomas, Head of School at St. Patrick's Episcopal Day School

 

All Horizons' programming is free for our families and we provide all meals, curriculum supplies, and transportation each program day from Bishop Walker and H.D. Cooke to St. Patrick's. In Summer 2024, we look forward to serving 155 K-8 students at our site at St. Patrick's from June 28 through August 2.

Impact

Access to our transformative educational experience breaks the cycle of academic disparity and empowers underestimated students to reach their full potential. How?

• Expanding horizons through dynamic learning experiences: We extend learning beyond the traditional school year, offering a five-week summer program and 18-week Saturday Academy that combine academic enrichment, social-emotional learning, and exposure to a variety of engaging activities. In total, Horizons provides over 300 hours of programming - a 30% increase to the hours that students attend school.
• Bolstering mental health and wellbeing: We know that all youth have been navigating challenges to their mental health since pre-pandemic and are continuing to struggle in the pandemic's aftermath. Through our partnership with the MECCA Group LLC, we provide a licensed mental health counselor two days per week at the St. Patrick's site during our summer program to offer direct and group counseling.
• Centering fitness, safety, and fun through swimming: Drowning deaths disproportionately impact the community Horizons serves. Our St. Patrick's site students swim 4x per week across the street at George Washington University's Mount Vernon Campus with guided, certified swim instruction. Beyond learning a new sport and a life-saving skill, our youngest swimmers master a Learn-to-Swim curriculum, our middle school students build their fitness and skills with swim team workouts, and our 9th graders participate in lifeguard training.
• Creating a sense of belonging within academics: With a 5:1 student to staff ratio, our program tailors educational experiences to meet the unique needs of each child, fostering a critical sense of belonging and empowerment. By employing personalized learning strategies, we aim to close learning gaps and build a foundation for future academic success.

Horizons Works:

Horizons students experience chronically absent rates of only 16%, in stark contrast to the 43% chronically absent rate among students in the District of Columbia Public Schools. Chronic absenteeism - missing 18 days in a school year - has contributed to falling school achievement, deteriorating mental health due to social isolation, and increased youth violence during school hours (ProPublica 2024). Chronically absent students are less likely to read on grade level, more likely to be suspended in middle school, and more likely to drop out of high school (Attendance Works 2023). That is not the case for our students.

Ways to Get Involved

We are grateful for the longstanding partnership and support Horizons has with the Wolfhound community! Join us in creating a community where every child has the opportunity to thrive. Here are three ways to get involved:

• Support the Supply Drive: The month-long Supply Drive will support the costs of our classroom and curricular supplies like high-quality art supplies, STEM tools, swim gear, and books. To learn more about the supplies we need for Summer 2024 and to donate, please click here.
• Support the 2024 Reach for the Stars Gala: Our annual benefit will be held on October 4, 2024 at the National Museum for Women in the Arts! Interested in joining the Gala Committee or know a potential corporate sponsor? Please reach out to Executive Director Mike Di Marco.
• Become a guest speaker: We're always looking for local subject-matter experts to serve as guest speakers and enrich our curriculum. This summer, our rising ninth graders will focus on two themes: entrepreneurship and journalism. They'll learn what it takes to start and sustain a business as well as how to create a well-sourced podcast. Do you know someone who can share their real experience with these themes? Let Mike know here.
• Build and sponsor a field trip experience: Do you work on a team that can help teach middle school or rising ninth graders a skill that would benefit them in high school or beyond? Want to share what you and your colleagues do and how you chose your career? Consider hosting a field trip! Show off your company and help our students connect what they're learning in the classroom to real world applications! Interested? Send a note to Mike!