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Horizons @ St. Richard’s
Additionally, Horizons assembled weekly adventure kits for students, which contained school supplies, worksheets, STEM kits, LEGO kits, books, and healthy snacks, to facilitate active learning from home.
AmySue Bacon, Executive Director Horizons at St. Richard’s Episcopal School (Horizons at SRES) is a transformative six-week, tuition-free summer program that traditionally serves approximately 150 Pre-K through eighth grade public school children from under-served families in the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood and wider Indianapolis
To help our students deal with the additional stress and isolation of this summer, Horizons made social-emotional learning and support a priority. Horizons utilized the RULER Social-Emotional Learning (“SEL”) Curriculum, provided students with whole-class, SEL lessons for two 40-minute sessions twice a week, and offered opt-in sessions dealing with anxiety, racial tensions, friendship, and depression. Through a Trinity Episcopal Outreach Grant, Horizons will be able to expand our social-emotional support throughout our year-round programming in 2021. Horizons’ students also benefited from direct support from Trinity parishioners’ through the annual Giving Tree. Sponsored by the generous donations of Trinity parishioners, SRES families, and the Butler Development department, Horizons students received gifts for the holidays. Through the difficulties of the past year, Horizons learned the value of maintaining our relationships with the Horizons’ extended family: students, parents, teachers, community partners, and donors. Our partnerships organizations, such as Trinity Episcopal and SRES, allowed us to continue providing summer and year-round programming when our families needed it most. Staying connected to Horizons families and offering additional supports, such as the COVID-19 food assistance fund, forged deeper bonds with Horizons families.
community. Currently, all of our Horizons’ students identify as BIPOC. All Horizons’ students also qualified for free/reduced lunch. This past summer, Horizons served 72 students in a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, Horizons was led by Executive Director, AmySue Bacon. The Horizons advisory board encompasses members from the greater Indianapolis community and includes several Trinity Episcopal Church parishioners. Currently, Trinity members Jenn Dawson, Bob Marchesani, and Shelly Furuness serve on the Horizons board.
Horizons’ students spend their summers in small-group settings, learning from certified teachers. Our mission is to close the summer learning gap for Indianapolis kids from low-income families through: • • • •
Intensive academic enrichment from Pre-K to 8th grade A fun learning environment Lifesaving swim lessons Year-round support for families
This summer offered unique challenges for our program due to the pandemic. Horizons shifted to a remote format delivered virtually to ensure the safety of our community. Horizons teachers delivered high-quality reading, math, and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) instruction Monday - Friday from 9:30am – 12:30pm to students who checked in on devices. For students without computer access, Horizons loaned out Chromebooks through a partnership with SRES. All students that wanted to take part were able to join. 23
