Aim High: Overview

Our Mission

The mission of Aim High is to inspire a life-long love of learning and to instill a sense of community, opportunity, and respect so that students are prepared for success in school and in life.

Our Model

Our model aims to close the opportunity and achievement gaps for low-income middle school students by offering an engaging, supportive, and tuition-free summer learning program.   The Aim High experience fosters critical thinking, instills academic habits of mind, and cultivates a love of learning. Our academic classes reinforce what students have learned in the previous school year, and prepare them to succeed in the school year ahead.  Students attend classes in Math, Science, Humanities, and Issues & Choices, Aim High’s unique adolescent development and leadership class.  In the afternoon, students participate in elective activities such as art, drama, and sports. We provide small class sizes, student support specialists, and free, healthy lunches and snacks so that students are at optimum capacity to be fully engaged in the classroom. Students typically participate for three or four summers, and many return to teach in the program.  Aim High continually evaluates feedback, assesses results, and shares best practices in order to deliver a high-quality program to our students.

Our Vision

Our unique contribution is to enable under-served middle school youth to arrive at high school prepared to succeed and ultimately graduate.  We believe in empowering every Aim High graduate to have the skills and confidence they need to be successful by giving them a strong academic foundation and a vibrant community of support. 

 

 

 

Our Core Values

Community
As an organization, and in every aspect of our program, we celebrate diversity, teamwork, and successes large and small in order to facilitate a strong sense of belonging.  Above all, we believe in making Aim High a place where all of our community members feel empowered, appreciated, and safe.

Opportunity
Take the initiative.  Become a leader.  Explore the world outside our walls.  These are the messages Aim High seeks to impart by offering opportunities for growth to our community members.  We actively cultivate a culture of discovering new potential and saying “yes.”

Respect
“Put-ups” not put-downs, are an integral part of Aim High’s culture of positive reinforcement.  We value our differences, and we support each other through acts of kindness and encouragement.   We have a deep respect for culture, community, and our environment.

High Expectations
The Aim High experience enables all of our community members to make a strong commitment to personal and professional growth, and to set big goals for the future.  We make it a priority to establish a rigorous learning environment, and we expect positive results.