About

The 2024-25 mission of Great Leaps, Inc. is to acquire the interest of all stakeholders in the school community by providing rich opportunities for all students by developing and augmenting their academic skills; 1. providing college courses for our high school students, a pathway to college and professional training in mass communications; and 2. Our work with middle school students consists of nurturing their social emotional learning capabilities through an interactive approach and active participation in creating a safe school environment. Great Leaps, Inc. is a premier provider of exceptional social emotional learning experiences, providing support for high school Seniors that are college bound and seeks to enhance all students' overall achievement. Our objectives are met through a series of vibrant lessons, college courses provided by local colleges, successful activities in the form of field trips to colleges and broadcast networks, direct support from broadcast industry insiders and a collective student engagement, focused solely on a solid approach to student empowerment through the utilization of our program. principles.

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GREAT LEAPS FOR HIGHER LEARNING, INC.

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Mission

Executive Summary

We believe that competitive opportunities, academically and athletically will develop students overall academic achievement. With such conditions, students will learn to communicate effectively orally, socially and collaboratively. They will develop a love for discipline, confidence and virtues that can be acquired in academic, social-emotional and fitness related program that will prepare them for global citizenship. They will appreciate and embrace the principles to create a foundation that will allow them to become successful citizens. They will make connections between their own knowledge and others and learn to respect all forms of diversity. Our students will foster love and care for themselves and others and will achieve their potential and facilitate for others to do the same in honor of the human spirit. Our students will learn to work cooperatively in benefit of the group or team. They will learn to be responsible for the social reality they build and will engage in a conscious transformation of our global community in search for equity, inclusion, justice, and peace through academics, social emotional learning and fitness related activities The instructional component will support positive student outcomes. The academic aspect will be nurturing, respectful, safe, and comfortable. The program will be viewed as a community in which all students are valued.

Great Leaps, Inc. will serve as a liaison between schools, colleges and the community; and honor the commitment of educating the “whole child”, academically, socially, emotionally, behaviorally and physically. Our academic instructors will teach college course curriculum to High School Students and social emotional curriculum to our Middle School students. The curriculum will be aligned with New York State Standards and be equipped with data collection and analysis directly from the classrooms for the creation of needs based assessment activities that will move our students forward. Our administration will support professional development activities for all Great Leaps principals, educators, instructors and coaches. The program will ensure that all members develop to their professional capacity to enhance student learning.

Students will respect themselves and all members of the community. Students will be encouraged to voice their opinion. His or her ideas will be valued by everyone. Teachers, mentors and coaches will be encouraged to dialogue with students and parents on any concerns. These trust relationships among Great Leaps community members will foster the sense of community within the program. Ultimately, we are a college-bound program that will provide a rigorous academic program with professional workshops and rigorous programming, as well as field studies and college visits.

Phase 1: Program Summary (2009-22)

Great Leaps for Higher Learning, Inc. is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization that infuses the New York State Common Core Standards and rigorous academics into a rich athletic based initiative. Our student-athletes will augment their knowledge acquisition by developing an understanding of the connectivity between athletic competition, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM education). They will learn how to identify, discuss and experience the impact of athletics and its relationship to core subjects and in all content areas including social studies and language arts. Our student-athletes will be selected to compete in various sporting events against peers locally, regionally and nationally. This exposure will enhance the lives of our players by building discipline, confidence, drive and ambition. These virtues can be applied to other areas of a student-athlete’s life for successful results. The targeted student-athlete population will primarily exist within the Concourse and Morrisania sections of the Bronx, New York and all activities will be conducted within the confines of the aforementioned areas within the Bronx, New York with periodic competitive games within the Tri-State Area as well as regional and national excursions.

Phase 2: Program Summary (2022-25)

The Great Leaps Inc. mission is established on the belief that all students, when motivated effectively and consistently, can produce dramatic results in school, at home and in their communities. Our vision is to create a framework that infuses the Beyond Differences curriculum and principles, which fosters social emotional learning creativity and expression through higher level cognitive thinking about one’s self and others. Moreover, our program design is built on the Belonging in the Bronx Programming to motivate students for social emotional learning excellence in school. Our overarching objective is to cultivate and build on our successes in 6 NYC Public Schools in the Bronx, NY programming; and continue to share our resources to foster the personal social emotional learning interests of promising young students and through direct instruction, and student leadership training, we will teach all students how to balance and incorporate these components and structures into their lives for GREAT results.

In addition to our work on the middle school level, we are currently partnering with R&R Media Services, an innovative after-school program designed to ignite a passion for higher learning and professional development for High School Students in the Bronx, NY. This dynamic partnership offers a comprehensive college curriculum provided by public and private colleges that bridges academic excellence with real-world skills, including college courses taught on the high school level for college credits and career exploration. Our participants engage in hands-on projects, mentoring from broadcast industry professionals and collaborative learning experiences that prepares our students for college and beyond. By blending rigorous academic challenges with practical, career-oriented training, the R&R Media After School Program and Great Leaps, Inc collaboration equips students with the tools they need to excel in their future endeavors and become confident, capable leaders in their chosen fields.

We believe children can be the best they can be,
can define their future, and can change the world.