Community PLUS Schools add up to success!

Attendance is the foundation for success in school, and we know that when students are given the support they need, their attendance goes up. That’s why Community PLUS Schools, a United Way of Anchorage community collaboration, connects the right students to the right supports at the right time.

Some of the most common ways we help kids are with school lunches, tutoring, after-school clubs, and after-school transportation. Students and their families are also connected to community resources, support in developing a network for assistance, and mentoring in building effective strategies that bolster children’s academic success.

United Way of Anchorage and the Anchorage School District (ASD) have lead this collaboration since 2014.

In the 2019-20 school year, 700 students were served with nearly 1,000 academic and community supports provided at 13 schools and our data shows they’re working. On average, 86.9% of students receiving PLUS supports are meeting attendance goals compared with an average of 73.8% meeting them among Community PLUS Schools’ overall student populations. That’s 13.1% higher than their peers.

In the 2020-21 school year, PLUS has also collaborated with ASD and Camp Fire Alaska to create Learning Pods in three schools to serve students at the highest risk and who had not attended their remote learning classroom prior to the program. This innovation created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is now operating in three schools serving a total of 60 students (20 students each; schools are not listed to maintain privacy for the students).

The Learning Pods serve students who are experiencing homelessness, learning English as a second language, eligible for free-and-reduced lunch /experiencing poverty, and who have academic needs, or are part of the foster care system. The pods have become an education lifeline for these students, providing transportation to and from school when needed, breakfast and lunch, and adult supervision by Camp Fire staff as they attend their online classes.

Each year, Community PLUS Schools has expanded its impact and will reach students in 15 schools in the 2020/21 school year. Our goal is to continue to reach more students and schools well into the future.

Our schools include:

So how does it work?

Thank you to our donors!