$750K To HoCo STRIVES Program Will Help Students Make Strides

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — HoCo STRIVES will receive $750,000 for fiscal year 2022, an 88 percent increase from the fiscal year 2021 budget, to help tackle the achievement gap for Howard County students. Created in 2018, the HoCo STRIVES program serves as an umbrella for several initiatives that engage community partners to help Howard County children and youth succeed in school. HoCo STRIVES, which stands for Strategies To Reach an Inclusive Vision and Equitable Solutions, provides resources and services such as food access programs, mental health access and social and emotional learning programs.

“According to Ready at Five, prior to the pandemic in Howard County, 69 percent of white children were prepared for kindergarten, compared to 44 percent of Black children and 35 percent of Hispanic children,” Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said. “We are using this moment to be proactive – we know that in the upcoming year the data will show these gaps that already existed were only exacerbated by the pandemic. That’s why we’re doing what we can to level the playing field for our students and families who have fallen behind. These investments we are making now will have a positive impact on our children and youth for the remainder of their lives.”

The additional funding will support three critical initiatives:

• Doubling the capacity for the Summer Scholars’ program from 90 to 180 students
• Establishing an after-school program at Deep Run Elementary
• Launching a new local leadership team in Elkridge to help identify student and community needs.

“When we think of Howard County we think of our county’s affluence, and that’s a very positive thing, but we also need to lift up individuals in our community who have great challenges,” HCPSS Superintendent Michael Martirano said. “In our school system, 23 percent of our young people, close to 12,000 students qualify for free or reduce meals. Now more than ever we need to rally around our young people to provide support because of the regression that has occurred during the summer, and the regression that has occurred during the last 15 months that has really exacerbated our concerns."

Summer Scholars
The Summer Scholars program works with rising middle school students to get them math and English ready and supports students who have fallen behind by getting them back on the graduation track. This summer, the Scholars program will expand from one site at Oakland Mills Middle to two sites, now also serving Harper’s Choice and Wilde Lake Middle school students. This will double the number of middle school students the program is able to serve from 90 to 180 students. The program operates for four weeks in July for eight hours a day, five days per week.

Based on the latest in-person cohort of Summer Scholars from Oakland Mills Middle School that:

• 94 percent of rising 6th and 7th graders completed the program on track to take Algebra 1 in 8th grade,
• 44 percent of rising 8th graders completed the program on track to take Algebra 1 in the upcoming academic year,
• 100 percent of students maintained or improved their reading scores

After-School Program at Deep Run

The increased fiscal year 2022 funding will also be used to establish The Back to School Project, an after-school program at Deep Run Elementary for families living in the Deep Run Mobile Home Park and Sherwood Crossing Apartments.

Specifically, the program will provide academic support and enrichment services for students in grades kindergarten through third that will include a social and emotional learning component and enrichment activities beyond academics. The program will kick off at the end of the summer with a Back to School Night and will provide 400 of kindergarten through 12th grade students with school supplies.

In addition to providing support to students, the program will also provide quality programming for their parents and families. This will involve helping them navigate school system and human services agencies, as well as facilitating connections to mental health resources.

The adult programming will also provide free English Language tutoring to parents and families in need of this service.

Local Leadership Team in Elkridge
The funding will also support a new Local Leadership Team in Elkridge, a group tasked with identifying the specific services a community would most benefit from, such as food or medical access, or extra learning supports.

The Oakland Mills Local Leadership Team, which has become a trusted community resource and helped guide many HoCo STRIVES initiatives, will serve as the model for this new group in Elkridge.