Student U’s successful model of helping students reach their full potential has spread to Gastonia. Three dozen students in west Gastonia who will start sixth grade in the fall have become trailblazers in a bold new program called the Dream Center Academy. Organized by the nonprofit Dream Center of Gaston County, it’s a summer enrichment and after-school tutoring program aimed at helping selected students reach their full potential. The goal is for it to eventually grow and involve as many as 350 students at a time.
The model for the entire venture has been modeled after Student U. Dream Center leaders first visited us two years ago and began planning to implement it in Gastonia. Over a decade, we have achieved proven results and have helped students develop better attitudes toward school and academic achievement while also showing greater social development. While our mission is to create a Durham where all children are succeeding, it is also part of our goal to support the development and implementation of practices in schools and other settings.
