Programs

Middle School Pilot Program

In September of 2008, Urban Compass kicked off the Middle School Pilot Program in partnership with St. Michael’s in South Central Los Angeles. This partnership is the first step toward allowing Urban Compass to offer an enriched alternative to the underperforming and unsafe options provided to middle school students in Watts.

The pilot program is currently sponsoring three students. The participants this year are Marquis Ware and siblings Raymetrius Webster and Tamarrey’A House.

Marquis, Ray, and Tamarrey’A are already thriving in this safe and well-structured school. All three students are proving to be solid academically and are involved in many activities at St. Michaels. The activities include sports, choir, student council, and school mass.

In order to keep our students on track, they will attend the after-school program once a week to be tutored by a college graduate. Urban Compass will be tracking the students throughout the year to measure their improvement.

Future Goals

A long-term goal for the Urban Compass Middle School Program is to increase sponsorship to five to ten participants in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. We hope to sponsor middle school students who have gone through the Urban Compass after-school program. We also seek to form a stronger relationship with St. Michael’s School. As part of the support of our participants, Urban Compass hopes to assist St. Michael’s by providing both in-kind and financial resources to the school.

The after school program will eventually feed five to ten sixth graders into the middle school program each year, with the goal of sending all of our participants to high school at or above grade level. Most kids from Watts currently enter their freshmen year of high school at a 5th or 6th grade reading and math level.

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