Horizons at USN

University School of Nashville

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Horizons at Home – Summer Impact Report

Advisory Board Cassidy Bentley Walter Clair Kim Dano Charlene Dewey Frank Dobson Eddie Hamilton King Hollands Sam Jackson Vincent Jackson Florence Kidd Keith Meacham Kristen Neal Sherleta Sanders Inta Sandford Patrice Stewart Perian Strang Gail Williams Shelby Woods

Ex-Officio Members Kim Avington, Executive Director Amy Woodson, Head of Lower School Roderick White, Director of Diversity and Community Life Vince Durnan, USN Director

Pandemic Posed Challenges

Students are likely to return to school in fall 2020 with 63 to 68% of the learning gains in reading relative to a typical school year and with only 37 to 50% of the learning gains in math, according to the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University.

In some grades, students may return to school close to a full year behind in math. What’s more, this lost ground will not be equally distributed. While students who are already performing above grade level might make potential gains, students performing at or below grade level are more likely to experience many months’ worth of learning loss.

With many students facing a semester’s worth of learning loss and unequal access to school year distance learning, Horizons needed to find a way to provide students with the best possible opportunities to learn in summer 2020. And Horizons teachers and staff stepped up, surveying and collaborating with families to understand their remote learning experiences, providing meals and supplies, and supporting each other as they delivered Horizons programming in new ways.

Despite being unable to gather together each day to learn, the Horizons at USN community creatively adapted to provide students with engaging educational and enrichment opportunities in a remote format. Teachers gave a particular focus to the social and emotional well-being of Horizons families this summer as they checked in frequently to help parents and students process the unrest occurring across our city and country. We are grateful to our donor community who made this summer a success through their continued dedication to Horizons at USN.

Aspiring to our Mission

Horizons continued to provide uniquely creative summer experiences to 95 students in first through seventh grades from public and charter schools across Metro Nashville. o 100% of Horizons students returned to attend Horizons at Home this summer. o 94% of students logged on each week to participate in synchronous learning with peers and teachers. o 95% of parents picked up academic boxes each week.

o 500 food boxes were provided over the six-week program. o Hotspots and iPads were provided to remove digital barriers. Thank you to Google Fiber for this critical sponsorship.

With at-home, hands-on projects blended with online classrooms, Horizons students built their literacy, STEM, and social-emotional skills and enjoyed special activities like art, dance, cooking, and mindfulness. Horizons at USN kept in close touch with families through weekly pickups, newsletters, and videos of the week’s online learning, and found thoughtful ways to bring our community together safely. Horizons students enjoyed their virtual summer, with some even commenting, “I was sad this was our last meeting, but I’m excited to see you next summer.”

Summer in Review

During this one-of-a-kind summer of physical distancing, Horizons siblings are learning alongside each other in their virtual classrooms.

To complement their online classrooms, Horizons teachers, volunteers, members packed academic boxes for pick up each week. Students have received books, school and art supplies, STEM kits, games, rock collections, gift cards, healthy snacks, and more.

In light of the COVID-19 crisis and summer schedules, Horizons at USN set out to create a program that met students and families where they were. By offering options for live and pre-recorded classes, providing the necessary supplies for at-home learning, and working with families to secure devices and assist with technology, students participated in many ways. Thanks to INGRAM, each student was provided age and reading level appropriate books, and classes met virtually to read and discuss their summer reading books.

Report on Philanthropy 2019-2020

A Horizons at University School of Nashville student reads to her younger brother.

This Horizons student completed a great at-home STEM project on her own.

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University School of Nashville

20 Our Generous Donors

Founders Circle ($100,000 and above) Lauren Akins & Thomas Rhett Cassidy & Dierks Bentley RISER Foundation

Visionary Circle ($25,000 to $99,999) Dan and Margaret Maddox Charitable Fund Scarlett Family Foundation

Leadership Circle ($5,000 to $24,999) AllianceBernstein Cathy & Martin Brown, Jr. The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Heathie & Chip Cox Kim & Roy Dano Sherry & Mark Deutschmann Kristen Keely-Dinger & Jason Dinger Dollar General Literacy Foundation Tory Sally Fitzgibbon ’86 & Will Fitzgibbon Horizons at USN teachers and students are grateful to the more than 200 donors who supported the program this summer. Thank you for your generosity, concern, and ongoing support. Although the seventh summer of Horizons looked quite different, your gifts provided our students with the academic and emotional support to sustain during a time of uncertainty, the tools and skills to continue their growth as lifelong learners, the nutritional support to ensure our students stayed focused daily, and our teachers the resources to deliver programming in a fun and creative online format.

Lee Ann & Orrin Ingram INSBANK Susan & Greg Lanigan Robert Lipman Appy Frenchman & Viraj Parikh Susannah & Zulu Scott-Barnes Scott Scovill Perian & Sam Strang Gail Williams Katherine & Jay Williams

Scholars Circle ($1,000 to $4,999) Vandana & Rick Abramson Jody & Mark Banks Stephanie & Dan Conner May Cox 2028 Katie & Kevin Crumbo Mary Craven & Burney Dawkins Frank Dobson Caroline Allison & Nick Dryden John Eakin Richard Eskind Leigh & Joe Fisher Larry & Tom Hines Horizons National Student Enrichment Program, Inc. Marion Kraft Katherine & Jim McElroy Regions Bank Cherie & Ivan Robbins Anna Hemnes & Jake Schwarz Adele Simons ’88 & John Wengraf David Spigel ’88 & Marci Spigel The Corecivic Foundation Elena Goss & Bob Valentine Vanderbilt University Mimi & Charlie Vaughn Elaine & Carman Wenkoff Shelby Woods

Achievement Circle (gifts up to $999) Anonymous Kim Avington Felicia Bass Dru Potash Bredesen ’98 & Ben Bredesen ’98 Jocelyn Briddell Kelly & Dan Brown Kyron & Kevin Buckner Deborah Webster-Clair & Walter Clair Alison Cohen & Mike Poole Teri Weinstein Cohen ’64 & Alan Cohen Beth & Will Drewry Vincent Durnan Beth & Chuck Eberl Haverford College Margaret Hill Mindy & Kenny Hirt King Hollands Claudia Huskey Jaime & Sam Jackson Grace & Vincent Jackson Ritu & Matt Joseph Florence Kidd Tonia & Jeff Klein Ann & John Krimm Loran Shallenberger & Emily Mitchell Kris & Greg Neal Sneha Channabasappa Oakley ’94 & Lee Oakley Samantha Olivares-Mejia ’18 Marilyn & Philip Ollila Jennifer Pietenpol & Ian Wattenmaker

Diane Honda & Dave Reiland Susie & Russell Ries Nate Schwartz & Seneca Rosenberg Bobby Frank ’85 & Teresa Standard Kenya Stevens Katie Sykes Tinah & Dawson Tanner Doris Taylor Natalie TeSelle ’16 Ed Turnley ’71 & Carolyn Reed Elizabeth & Kevin Warren Aviva Wasserman & Jim Hodgson Anne Westfall Patti & Marty Wexler Karen Winkelmann & Paul Worley

Report on Philanthropy 2019-2020

Horizons Scholars logged onto Zoom at least weekly to learn together and discuss readings in summer 2020.

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