Key Takeaways
- At Club Boulevard Elementary, school rescue funds went toward a food pantry, clothing closet, and family check-ins.
- Suarez-Aviles says the investments helped catapult the school’s reading scores to the top of the district.
Gloria's Story
How did Club Boulevard Elementary School in Durham, N.C., go from struggling academically to leading the district in early-grade reading scores in just a few years’ time?
Every educator was engaged. They leveraged every resource at their disposal to drive toward that goal, including federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan and Title I—the federal program that supports schools with large numbers of low-income families—which the Biden-Harris administration expanded by $1.9 billion since 2021.
Gloria Suarez-Aviles, the community schools coordinator at Club Boulevard, is one of those staff members who seems to be everywhere. She’s at the drop-off loop to greet students in the morning, on lunch duty in the cafeteria, then coordinating with colleagues and working with small groups of students who need extra support to meet—and exceed—academic expectations.
Thanks to federal investments, we were able to add extra supports for students below proficiency in reading, including adding staff members to work with small groups of students and after-school tutoring for nearly 75 students provided by their classroom teachers.
To help boost early-grade reading skills, Club Boulevard dedicated ARP funding to after-school tutoring provided by the students’ classroom teachers, who already have their second- and third-graders’ trust and know their struggles.
In addition to ongoing supports like the food pantry, the clothing closet, and family check-ins with Ms. Gloria, these tutoring sessions helped catapult Club Boulevard’s reading scores to the top of the district.
Suarez-Avilez says recognizing students who uphold school values and creating clubs that meet during the school day made students feel more connected to their education.
