FAIRFIELD, Conn.—Horizons at Sacred Heart University has received a grant of $25,000 from Fairfield County’s Community Foundation (FCCF) to support development of its year-round STEM and reading curriculums.
Horizons at SHU helps underprivileged children from Bridgeport overcome the phenomenon known as summer learning loss, in which students who have fewer opportunities for enrichment and intellectual stimulation each summer retain less of what they learned in school than their peers whose families can afford such activities. Children coming into the program already are reading below grade level. With a 4-to-1 student-teacher ratio, Horizons teaches them skills for academic success and empowers them to reach their full potential.
“Horizons is so grateful for the support of the Fairfield County’s Community Foundation. This support enables Horizons at SHU to continue to serve more than 150 youngsters with opportunities to develop their reading and math skills, their social and emotional intelligence, and their confidence. Through active and engaged learning, the program helps youngsters avoid a ‘summer slide’ in literacy and numeration skills, gain confidence as swimmers and in other physical activities, and in artistic pursuits. The youngsters thrive, grow and become better selves thanks to this support,” says Tom Forget, faculty liaison for the Horizons at SHU program.
The Horizons at SHU program is part of an award-winning, national organization comprising more than 50 chapters and serving more than 5,000 students. Founded in 2012 within the Isabelle Farrington College of Education, Horizons at Sacred Heart University has since grown to approximately 150 students ranging from kindergarten through seventh grade. This year, the summer program will have an additional class for children who just completed kindergarten, with a goal of adding a grade each year until they have students from kindergarten to 12th grade. For more information on the Horizons affiliate at Sacred Heart, visit www.horizonsatshu.org.
Fairfield County’s Community Foundation promotes philanthropy as a means to create change in Fairfield County, focusing on innovative and collaborative solutions to critical issues affecting the region. Individuals, families, corporations and organizations can establish charitable funds or contribute to existing funds the foundation maintains. The FCCF complies with the Council on Foundations’ national standards, and has awarded $180 million in grants to nonprofits in Fairfield County and beyond. For more information, visit www.fccfoundation.org.
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Sacred Heart University, the second-largest independent Catholic university in New England, offers more than 70 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs on its main campus in Fairfield, Conn., and satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland. More than 8,500 students attend the University’s five colleges: Arts & Sciences; Health Professions; Nursing; the Jack Welch College of Business; and the Isabelle Farrington College of Education. The Princeton Review includes SHU in its guides, Best 382 Colleges–2018 Edition, “Best in the Northeast” and Best 267 Business Schools–2018 Edition. It also placed SHU on its lists for “Best College Theater” and “Most Engaged in Community Service,” each of which comprises only 20 U.S. schools. U.S.News & World Report ranks SHU in its Best Colleges 2018 guidebook and calls SHU the fourth “Most Innovative School” in the North. The Chronicle of Higher Education also names SHU one of the fastest-growing Roman Catholic universities in its 2016 almanac. Sacred Heart fields 32 Division I athletic teams and has an award-winning program of community service. www.sacredheart.edu
For additional Sacred Heart University news, please visit http://www.sacredheart.edu/aboutshu/news/.