WHY FOCUS ON MIDDLE SCHOOL? United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County identified Middle School Success as its focused initiative in 2010 because successful completion of high school is a determinant of a greater opportunity for a better life in the areas of Education, Income and Health. Research shows that middle school students who do not perform well academically and/or have behavior or attendance problems arrive in the ninth grade unprepared for high school. These students are much less likely to graduate from high school than their peers. The statistics are sobering. •
• •
Sixth graders who failed math and/or English, attended school less than 80 percent of the time, or received an unsatisfactory behavior grade in a core class had only a 1020 percent chance of graduating on time. More than eight in 10 eighth grade students lack the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in high school. Ninth grade failure is one of the strongest indicators that a student will ultimately drop out.
After extensive research, United Way identified a gap in assistance for middle school students in our area. We support Middle School students by improving the quality of and access to out-of-school-time programs, assessing the quality of after school programming and helping them with continuous improvement, providing professional development and technical assistance to providers and helping programs assist more students and more communities.
our goals Enhance the quality
of youth serving programs.
Keep Asheville,
Buncombe County and WNC on the map in state-level policy decisions.
Help the community connect to ways to support kids this age.
I
ncrease the capacity and reach of programs.