Join this new UnityCR Christmas Tradition for 2015 – Books & Jammies!
This year our gifts will be BOOKS & JAMMIES for school age children at the Jane Boyd Achievement Academy!! Watch for the Christmas tree to go up after Thanksgiving. Please select a tag from the Christmas tree with gender, pajama sizes, and reading interests on the child’s wish list. Gifts need to be placed under the tree by December 15th. The gifts will be then handed out at the children’s Christmas Party before Christmas. Questions? Contact Susan Liddell.
For more information about the Jane Boyd Achievement Academy, read on:
Our History: We opened our doors as the Community House in 1921, the brain child of Jane Boyd: a teacher, nurse and social worker who realized to make the greatest impact, you have to look beyond the classroom doors at the home environment and community. Jane Boyd Community House’s mission is to enhance the academic, emotional and social well-being of children and families in our diverse community with programs focused on developing successful and productive adults. Jane Boyd Community House, whose programs are accredited through the Council of Accreditation (COA) serves over 400 clients in a variety of programming to meet the needs of an underserved community. Programs include Parents As Teachers, Family Support, PATHS and Achievement Academy.
Achievement Academy is an out-of-school time programming offered at four locations; Jane Boyd Community House, Johnson STEAM Academy, Cedar Valley Townhomes, and Hawthorne Hills apartments for kids 5-14 years old. Programming at three of our four locations is free of charge for children. At the fourth location, programming has a small fee ($100 per school year), which is only charged to offset the cost of transportation provided to the youth served at that location. Children served through Achievement Academy programming primarily live in neighborhoods with disproportional poverty. Many of these children bring with them a history of trauma, combined with a lack of adult role models and social supports. To meet these needs, the Achievement Academy delivers after-school and summer programming in a welcoming environment, through staff members who are trained to relate to at-risk students. Achievement Academy programming is tailored to increase each child’s social and community engagement, hopefulness and academic preparedness. We set aside time every day to provide homework help assistance to youth at all of our four locations. Additionally children participate in Arts and Cultural experiences, including with the Eastern Iowa Arts Academy and in the Iowa Youth Writers Program, offered in collaboration with the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop. Children also connect with a range of other community activities, including Boy and Girl Scouts, Parks and Recreation activities, and Indian Creek Nature Center and Science Center visits, and Ceramics Center programming.
Achievement Academy demographics: Between the four Achievement Academy locations, 241 youth are served annually in out of school programming. 44% identify as African American, 30% identify as Caucasian, 22% identify as Multiracial, and 1% identify as Hispanic. Female youth make up 44% and Male youth make up 59% percent of our population. The majority of our youth come from single-parent households (67%). The average household income for our youth is $20,000-30,000 per year, and 71% of our youth receive free and/or reduced meals, and receive at least one other type of social service benefit, such as Medicaid or food stamps.