Seeds 4 Success Programs

Learning goals and activities are determined by Seeds 4 Success assessments, including the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Reading Skills (DIBELS) inventory, grade-level content and standards, and individual academic needs. Participants engage in social-emotional learning (SEL) aligned to Second Step’s™ Out-of-School Time Curriculum and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning’s SEL Framework. (CASEL) includes the competencies of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. SEL activities may be delivered by volunteers and/or S4S staff members. S4S also offers enrichment opportunities, such as summer camps, field trips, STEM days, etc. 

Similarly to Learn, tutoring goals are determined by grade-level content and individual academic needs. Sixth grade participants also engage in the DIBELS inventory. Participants in these grades often work on school assignments, projects, and homework during the academic portion of each session to ensure success. SEL is also aligned to CASEL’s Framework, planned using Preparing Youth to Thrive: Promising Practices in Social & Emotional Learning, and includes a variety of one-on-one mentoring activities, small group work, and whole group learning facilitated by S4S staff. In addition to enrichment activities offered to Learn participants, Dream participants engage in college and career readiness (CCR) activities aligned to the Maryland Out of School Time’s (MOST) College and Career Toolkit. These activities build on the 21st Century Skills and include guest speakers, career exploration and planning, executive function skill-building (i.e. time management, organization, etc.) and workforce, technical programs, and college tours. 

If a participant needs academic support, S4S works with current volunteers to find experts in the appropriate subjects or refers the participant to additional organizations for support. 

Our Share program is designed to deepen S4S family and youth engagement through equitable practices. Our Family and Student Impact Teams (FIT, SIT) are guided by the Spectrum of Family & Community Engagement for Educational Equity’s Framework, as we strive to be an organization moving closer to community ownership. These teams meet to share information about the current needs of our communities, hopes for our programs, feedback on our current model, and thereby become planning partners to refine the S4S method. S4S also provides family educational workshops across a variety of topics, such as, early learning techniques, academic strategies, child development, trauma-informed care, and mental health and wellness, etc. S4S establishes partnerships throughout the City and County to support additional needs our families may have, such as, English language proficiency and financial literacy.