Hirsch Academy A Challenge Foundation

All set-aside funds are designed to address the academic impact of lost instructional time due to COVID-19 by primarily providing staffing (teachers, reading interventionist, and paraprofessionals) to provide targeted student supports. Other positions such as the school counselor is being hired in order to respond to the social, emotional, and mental health needs of all students, and particularly those students who were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. ESSER III funds will provide extra teachers to help support students learning in addition to other staff who will provide targeted, direct student support to address learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic in small group and individual sessions. Software for online supplemental curriculum will be renewed, including Compass Learning, IXL and RazzKids. Contracted SPED services will be provided to help students recover from learning loss as well provide student testing and evaluation. The majority of our students are Hispanic and we have a high ELL student population. The major risk factors of our students include poverty, food insecurity, domestic violence, unstable living conditions, and a lack of educational support or encouragement at home. The majority of our students' parents do not speak English, nor do they read and write in their native Spanish language. Our school's most at risk students are those with compounding factors of being dual identified as having a learning disability (with an IEP) and as an ELL student.
In addition, ESSER III funds helps to support a school counselor and a family outreach counselor, who will help support student SEL services and also help with sharing information and resources with parents. An artist in residence will be contracted to provide fun, engaging art activities for students. The goal is to encourage student SEL via the arts.