Our whole-child approach
is working.
Students who stay engaged with OpenDoors have a 100% graduation rate with a high school diploma or equivalency. Over 80% of our students enroll and matriculate through four year colleges.
With support, OpenDoors students continue to far outpace the high school graduation and college enrollment rates nationwide, regardless of learning differences or economic status. Most OpenDoors students live below the poverty line and roughly half have been diagnosed with learning differences.
In our school district, Asheville City Schools, 94.6% of white students graduate in four years. This is compared to 92.3% for Black students. However, despite these similar graduation rates, the college readiness test scores tell a different story. In our school district, 81% of white students are deemed college ready whereas 12% of black students are; based on ACT/ACT WorkKeys Combined Indicator scores.
Tutoring
Research shows that high-dosage tutoring, like OpenDoors' one-on-one tutoring sessions, is the most effective of all educational interventions.
In our 2022-2023 programming year, we delivered over 880 hours of one-on-one professional tutoring (a 31% increase over last year!)
Summer Camp
Research shows that summer camps improve children’s self-esteem, independence, leadership, friendship skills, social comfort, values and decision-making skills.
In 2023, OpenDoors helped over 52 students attend 117 weeks of overnight and day camps, a 5% increase over our 2022 summer programing.
Enrichment
Research shows that consistent participation in enrichment programming translates to lower dropout rates, closes achievement gaps, reduces risky behaviors, and helps students gain college and career readiness skills.
In 2023, our students participated in after-school activities with RiverLink, PivotPoint WNC, and 13 other community partners and artists.
Transportation
Transportation is a major barrier to opportunity. Fortunately, it is a barrier OpenDoors knows how to surmount. Currently, OpenDoors owns three transportation vehicles, employs four transportation staff and also relies on employees and volunteers using their own vehicles to transport students.
In our 2022-2023 programming year, we drove students over 23,500 miles to academic and enrichment opportunities. That’s enough driving to travel all the way around the world, and then some!
Longevity
One of the many things that makes OpenDoors unique is our long-term partnerships with students and families. We describe ourselves as a longitudinal program serving students from kindergarten through college and beyond. In fact, our oldest student entered graduate school this fall to study nursing. Of the students on our roster last year, 10% had been with OpenDoors for ten or more years, 29% for six or more years, and 44% for three or more years. Of our 2022 college students, 70% have been with OpenDoors since elementary or middle school.
When we say that we are a longitudinal program, however, we aren’t just talking about numbers. Longitudinal means that we show up for students on their best days and on their worst; for their first day of summer camp and at high school graduation; when they get their driver’s license and when they get in their first fender bender; when they need to buy sheets for college and when they’re moving into their first apartment (yes, we’ve even helped when the apartment turned out to have bedbugs). We are in it for the long-haul.
Last fall, when one third grader was having trouble fitting into an after-school enrichment program, we worked with him to modify his behavior so that he was invited back and successfully completed the class. When one of our high school sophomores gave birth in August of 2022, we celebrated her new son and reiterated our commitment to her high school graduation and college readiness. We do not close the door on our students.
We are grateful for our long-term relationships with the communities we serve. For the past three years, 100% of referrals and applications for new OpenDoors’ students came through existing parent and student connections, a testimony to our relationships, integrity, and commitment to students. One mom, whose family has been OpenDoors since 2017, described her family’s experience with us as “a way that we can advocate for ourselves, or for us to be able to open doors to move forward.”