Learn4Life Brochure

A STRONGER
COMMUNITY
BEGINS

WITH HELPING STUDENTS

CHANGE THEIR STORY

1-877-360-LEARN
Learn4Life.org

UNDERSERVED,
BUT NOT
UNDESERVED.

There are 4.5 million opportunity youth1 -
16-24 year-olds who are not in school and
don’t have a job - just like Elizabeth, Alan
and Daniel.

Unless they are given personalized, one-
on-one educational support, they will drop
out. Statistics show that it will be nearly
impossible for them to become healthy,
productive members of society - unless we
help them change their story.

1Measure of America of Societal
Science Research Council, April
2019

ELIZABETH AGE 18 ALAN AGE 19 DANIEL AGE 18

Getting pregnant at age 14 meant Life on “the streets” made education Struggling to make ends meet,
months away from school and seem irrelevant, compared to his there were days when he didn’t have
a host of new responsibilities. own survival. His head wasn’t in the enough to eat. School was last on
Catching up with her class seemed books. He dropped out. his list of priorities. He dropped out.
hopeless. She dropped out.

WHEN Every 26 seconds, a student It’s easy to think of this as an
STUDENTS drops out of high school in education problem.
the U.S. - that’s 7,000 kids
FAIL, a day1. But the impact reaches far beyond
COMMUNITIES the school system. If we do nothing, an
Many, like Daniel, come from low- education problem becomes an economic
FAIL. income families. Some suffer from problem, an unemployment problem, a
developmental delays. And others, criminal justice problem, a public safety
like Elizabeth and Alan, are influenced problem2. Communities pay the price, often
by personal circumstances and peers. for generations3.
They are our communities’ most
underserved population, and yet they “I was hanging around with the wrong
represent the greatest potential for
economic impact. crowd, on track to be in jail...or possibly
dead. That was my future.”
- Alan, student

WHO IS THE COST OF
DROPPING OUT? DOING NOTHING

1 in 4 Americans2 $292K negative fiscal impact
per dropout4

60% of teen moms2 50% of public programs
drained5

1/4 of kids in poverty3 80% of inmates started
as dropouts6
1Miller, Tony. Partnering for Education Reform.
U.S. Department of Education, February 18, 4The Consequences of Dropping Out of High
2015. • 2Shuger, Lisa. Teen Pregnancy and School. Northeastern University, October 2009.
High School Dropout: What Communities are 5Smiley, Travis. Fact Sheet: Is the Dropout Problem
Doing to Address These Issues. The National Real? Travis Smiley Reports, February 26, 2014.
6Lynch, Matthew. High School Dropout Rate: Causes
Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned
Pregnancy and America’s Promise Alliance, and Costs. Education Week, November 2013.
2012. • 3The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Double
Jeopardy: How Third Grade Reading Skills and

Poverty Influence High School Graduation,
January 1, 2012.

By the time a student is labeled “at- We give students the tools they TRANSFORMING
risk,” they often have little hope of need to graduate - and change their AT-RISK
turning their life around. story for life.
STUDENTS
The fast track to a potential life of poverty is When Alan came to Learn4Life, he was given a free INTO FUTURE
compounded each year as a student’s need for education that included tailored lesson plans, flexible
special attention grows. Without the educational schedules, school supplies and one-on-one mentoring. GRADS.
and emotional support they need, these students As his self-confidence grew, he moved away from
find it impossible to catch up - and many simply give negative influences toward a healthier peer group. Our “When a student walks through our
up on learning. At Learn4Life, we’ve built a model model transforms students who were once deficits on doors, we don’t see a potential
that interrupts the dropout cycle and gives these a school’s performance record to become more than dropout - we see a future
kids a path to succeed in high school...and beyond. just positive outcomes on a balance sheet. graduate. And then we give them
all the support they need to make
STUDENTS WE SERVE LEARN4LIFE STUDENTS graduation a reality.”
- Caprice Young, Ed.D., National
80% are socio-economically 90% success rate1 Superintendent of Schools
disadvantaged
46% enroll in post-secondary education
60% are too old or ineligible to
attend traditional high school 1 We define success as graduating from Learn4Life
or continuing school in pursuit of a diploma.

“ After I had my baby, I thought Reengaging former dropouts.
I’d end up working at fast food
restaurants. My teacher at Most of our students enroll off the street - having
Learn4Life helped me make been out of school for 80+ days. When they start, 15%
a plan so I could get back on of new enrollees attend our school regularly. As the
track to go to college.” year goes on and students work through the program,
that number jumps to 86% of students.
- Elizabeth, student

CHANGE Nobody’s story is Taking the time
BEGINS WITH exactly the same. to succeed.
RELATIONSHIPS
AND NOT JUST Alan needed confidence. Daniel struggled with Responsibilities like jobs, childcare and family
CLASSES. poverty. Elizabeth faced the challenges of teen issues prohibit students like Elizabeth, a teen
motherhood. These are just a few of the many issues mother, from attending school five days a week,
“ The way that I was living, on the streets, our students face regularly. That’s why we provide a eight hours a day. Other students must cope
supervising teacher and one-on-one weekly meetings with the trauma they’ve experienced in their
I didn’t think there was a future for me. My for personalized attention that sets them up for lives which makes it hard to concentrate in high
teacher helped me to see that I could take success. school.

smart risks and be successful in life.” Supervising teachers are trained to deal with issues We support students with personalized learning
- Alan, student related to abuse, poverty, learning disabilities, that is infused with trauma-informed practices.
behavioral challenges and teen parenting. From Students learn resiliency while reveiving one-
providing a sympathetic ear to life skills training, bus on-on instruction and tutoring, all on a flexible
passes and free school supplies, Learn4Life removes schedule. Our student-centric model instills
all obstacles in the way of a diploma. confidence and inspires students to take

“ responsibility for their schoolwork.
I didn’t think I’d have time to go to
school. At Learn4Life, they let me come
in at my own pace, and I was allowed to
bring my little girl with me.”

- Elizabeth, student

Learn4Life graduates master the “That moment when PASSING ALONG
standards established by state a student’s eyes A LOVE FOR
boards of education for all students. light up once they LEARNING,
understand a tough INSTEAD OF
Our teachers create a curriculum specifically tailored lesson - it’s just as ‘JUST PASSING.’
to each student’s learning style - whether it’s visual, rewarding for me as
auditory or kinesthetic. Many students thrive in this it is for them.” “ I was having trouble with
personalized learning environment while some need reading, but I knew I had
more help, like Elizabeth. She required additional - Frederick Arroyo, teacher to stick with it to make a
student-teacher interaction, so our tutors and better life for my baby.
teachers worked closely with her on difficult subjects. Now I’m writing poetry and
reading Shakespeare.”
Students must be highly proficient before they’re - Dasmond, student
allowed to pursue subsequent credits. Once they’ve
shown mastery in a particular subject, we push them
to strive for even higher levels of achievement.

Our robotics lab, computer center and tablet
applications awaken the engineer or scientist within a
student, promoting STEM learning. We aim beyond the
Common Core to ignite a lifelong passion for learning.

TURNING We reach beyond the diploma CISCO® LAB
SCHOOLWORK to help students graduate to Students earn credits
INTO A CAREER. a better life. while training for the A+
certification to become
“ I never imagined I’d have a Through our exclusive workforce IT specialists with an
career. Now I’m on my way to innovation partnerships and job skills earning potential of more
becoming an IT specialist.” training programs, Learn4Life offers than $30,000 per year,
- Daniel, student students work readiness skills, work- right out of high school.
based learning, internships and
YOUTHBUILD
job opportunities. In our Cisco Lab, This program allows
Daniel gained advanced computer students to learn job skills
skills and passed the A+ certification through hands-on training
test to secure a career in IT. in construction and service
industries while working
Before graduating, every Learn4Life toward a high school
student completes a 10-week course diploma.
to receive five credits of Professional
Skills and five credits of Foundations JOB SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAMS
in Computing. These courses allow
students to learn the soft and hard • Career Preparedness Classes • Foundation in Business
skills that employers need to build • A quaponics • F oundation in Coding
a strong workplace. • C isco® Lab IT Essentials • I ntro to Digital Media
• E mergency Medical Responders • P rints4Life Print Shop
Other students receive training in • F oundation in Aerial Robotics
agriculture, retail, programming • F oundation in Agriculture
and more. Thanks to corporate
partnerships like UPS and Microsoft,
and our workforce-readiness
programs, students leave high school

“ with a jump start on their futures.
We don’t stop at graduation.
Whatever a student wants to do in
life, from skilled trades to a traditional
career in business, we help make it
happen.”

- Jessica Sherlock, regional principal

Computer access for every As a network of 501(c)(3) NOT FOR
student provides them nonprofit education centers, PROFIT,
with the chance to become we allocate all funds into
literate in technology, a skill programs and facilities for ALL FOR
needed for post-secondary the students we serve. EDUCATION.
education and beyond.
“ Math has never been
Although we’ve helped tens of easy for me. Here, I
thousands of students like Alan, can come in whenever
Daniel and Elizabeth, there are I want and there will
multitudes more who are on always be a tutor to
the brink of dropping out. help.”
- Tremayne, student
Our program is rapidly scaling
to meet the needs of students “The laptop pilot program
nationwide, with a proven model gave me a head start
to help them succeed. Each year, on college classes in
Learn4Life programs maintain the fashion merchandising. I
highest Academic Performance haven’t graduated yet,
Index (API) scores and growth but I’m already earning
when compared to other alternative college credits.”
schools in the same areas. - Angelina, student

Sometimes my mom didn’t

“ “ have enough money for gas. It’s not about the money. Every
My teacher gave me bus school gets money. We spend our
passes, so I could come in and funding on resources for students,
study.” like computers and labs and more

- Daniel, student

professional development days.”

- Lori Johnston, teacher

“It was difficult, CHANGING “ When a student turns in his or her final
but I stuck with THEIR STORIES exam, we ring a bell to symbolize all of
it to show my FOR GOOD. the challenges they overcame to reach
daughter that success. It’s a big moment of pride and an
she should Putting students back into schools inspiration to all of the other students to
never let means putting money back into the keep on going.”
anything hold state.
her back.” - Karen Aguirre, teacher
Instead of creating a lifelong drain on public resources,
- Elizabeth, student Elizabeth, Alan and Daniel - and thousands more like
them - will go on to become productive, contributing
members of society, breaking a generational chain of
poverty. Many are the first in their families to graduate
with a high school diploma.

A DROPOUT SAVED IS

$127K 6X 26% 8X

more in taxes more likely less likely to be less likely to be
earned1 to vote2 unemployed3 incarcerated4

1Levin, Henry M., and Cecilia E. Rouse. The True Cost of High School “ At graduation, we each gave a rose to
an important person. I gave mine to my
Dropouts. New York Times, January 2012. • 2CIRCLE. Young Voters in supervising teacher, because she believed in
the 2012 Presidential Election: The Educational Gap Remains, 2012. • me and convinced me to keep going - even
3Cassidy, Mike. No One is 5.8 Percent Unemployed. U.S. News & World when I wanted to quit.”

Report, December 10, 2014. • 4Source: California Department of - Dasmond, student
Justice, Office of the Attorney General. (n.d.). In school and on track

2016: Attorney General’s 2016 report on California’s elementary school

truancy and absenteeism crisis. Retrieved from: http://oag.ca.gov/

truancy/2016.

GRADUATING These are just three of the many Learn4Life students
TO A BETTER who have changed the story they thought was already
FUTURE. written. We’re committed to addressing this critically
underserved group by continuously growing to transform
the lives of thousands and thousands more.

ELIZABETH ALAN DANIEL Together we can
change their stories.
Recently graduated with honors and Studies fire safety at a local Is enrolled in the Cisco® CTE program,
is enrolled in nursing school. She was community college and is getting on track to graduate next year. He 1-877-360-LEARN
selected to speak at graduation, his EMT certification - with the goal of proudly demonstrates his ability to Learn4Life.org
and her speech about overcoming becoming a firefighter. In his completely reassemble a computer
obstacles inspired countless others to spare time, he gives motivational in less than 20 minutes, and looks
pursue their dreams. speeches at a drug rehab facility forward to a career path beyond
for teens. his family’s expectations.