YWCA Works to Close Achievement Gap

The YWCA of Boulder County is launching its fourth year of its Puente (Bridge) Program, which assists eighth grade Latina students in their transition from middle to high school, to help them stay in school and graduate. The YWCA currently offers the program to students attending Casey Middle School who are attending Boulder High School this fall.

The program includes adult and peer mentoring relationships, academic support, life skills training, building awareness of community resources, fostering healthy choices, increasing involvement of family members in their academic lives and building resiliency to stay in school.

The program helps to address the growing achievement gap between Hispanic and white non-Hispanic students. In Boulder County, the graduation rate of Hispanic students in the class of 2009 continued to be considerably lower than that of white non-Hispanic students in Boulder Valley School District. In BVSD the graduation rate for Hispanic students was 71.7 percent compared to 94.2 percent for white non-Hispanic students. (Source: The Status of Children in Boulder County 2010)

Through Puente, girls benefit from tutoring assistance, access to the YWCA’s computer lab, on-site high school registration assistance, nutrition and health information, parental involvement, as well as building their technological, writing and communication skills. The program also helps the students to increase self-confidence and self-efficacy (I know what I want, I can say what I want and I know how to get what I want).

The Puente program supplements programs provided by the school district. Input from youth indicates there needs to be more opportunities for support and there is a low number of summer programs geared toward Latina students. As a result, the Puente program runs year round, including holding sessions throughout the summer months. We also offer several fun field trips to reward the participants for all their hard work.

The program is free to for girls to participate and is funded by individuals and foundations. Additional funding is needed to expand the program to additional school sites.

The Puente program is part of the YWCA of Boulder County’s efforts to help empower women and girls. To learn more, visit www.ywcaboulder.org.