An overview of the Promoting School Success Program, which is an after-school homework help program sponsored by the Downtown Education Collaborative.

1. +
Promoting School Success
A project of the Downtown Education
Collaborative

2. +
DEC Office
 Across the street from the library
 A bridge between the colleges and the
downtown community
 A space for community
events, discussion,
and dialogue

3. + Meeting a Need in Downtown
Lewiston
 Lewiston has
historically had a
high dropout rate.
 In the past 10 years
there has been a
large increase in
ELL students.
 These challenges have stressed social services and the school
system.
 Some of the school-aged youth living in downtown Lewiston
sought extra help from the staff at the Lewiston Public Library,
but the Library did not have the capacity to meet the growing
need.

4. +
 DEC saw a place where it could bring its assets to
bear to address a critical community need.
 Working with the school department,
the library and other partners
DEC piloted
The Promoting School
Success Program in the fall
of 2008.
Assets
 The LPL has a designated
computer lab that is
available as a site.
 DEC has the resources
of the four colleges that be
designated to supporting
the program.
 The youth are highly motivated to learn.
Birth of the School Success Program

5. +
 Coordinated by an AmeriCorps
VISTA Volunteer.
 Training developed and
implemented by staff and faculty
from DEC and its member
institutions.
 Program staffed largely by
students recruited from DEC’s
four member colleges.
Structure of the Program
M-Th 3:30 – 5:30,
Lewiston Public Library

6. +
Expansion and Growth
13
30
256
2,423
300
3,261
$71
Average daily attendance Sept. 2008
Average daily attendance by April 2009
Students served during the 2008-09 school year
Total visits during in 2008-09
Students served during the 2009-10 school year
Total visits during the 2009-10 school year
• Last year, of a core group of 28 students
who attended regularly, 26 showed improvement
in their grades and are now passing.
-As reported by Sue Martin, the ELL
coordinator for Lewiston.
Per student cost of the program

7. +
Growing Pains
 As the program
has expanded,
the capacity of the
small computer lab has
been tested.
 There are only 25
chairs available. So
when numbers exceed
45 (as they tend to do
toward the end of the
quarter) it is difficult to
find places for
all of the kids.
 As recently as Nov 10th, we had to open a
homework help “annex” on the third floor to
accommodate all of the students.

8. +
Who are our students?
 The majority of our students
are African refugees from
Somalia and the Sudan.
 Our focus is on middle and
high school students, 80% in
grades 7-12.
 About 60% of students are
female.

9. +
Who are our tutors?
 We recruit from all four of DEC’s member academic institutions: Bates
College, CMCC, Kaplan University,
and USM-LAC.
 Students are in service
learning classes, are
work study students, and are
interns or volunteers.
 We also have community
volunteers including
community police officers
and an assistant rowing
coach from
Bates.
 Several of our tutors are fluent
in Somali which is a great
resource.

10. +
“I don’t have a computer at home, so
there is no way I could finish all of
my homework without Homework
Help!”
-Mana Abdi, ’13 Lewiston High
School

11. +

12. +
“The tutors are really helpful and make
things a lot simpler.”
-Issauk Abdi ‘11 Lewiston High School

13. +

14. +
“I love working at the after-school
program at the library. Even on nice
days when they could be playing
outside, kids come in to the library
eager to learn. It’s been a great
experience for me.”
-Sam Polak, Bates ’11

15. +
“The tutors are more than just tutors. They care
about you, and that means a lot to me.”
-Abdullahi Shaleh, ‘12 Lewiston High School