SHALOM PARK FREEDOM SCHOOL IS ABOUT LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF

The vision for the Shalom Park Freedom School (SPFS), the first Jewish-sponsored Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools® program in the nation and a collaboration of 8 Shalom Park agencies, is to engage in tikkun olam by fulfilling the highest level of Jewish charity:  helping children in our community become self-sufficient through closing literacy achievement gaps with a six-week literacy and character building summer program.  These scholars are selected from Huntingtowne Farms and Sterling Elementary, the two schools in faith-based partnerships with Temple Israel and Temple Beth El.   Summer reading loss is the foremost contributor to the achievement gap for low-income children.  Nationally, low-income children typically lose two to three months in reading level every summer, making them less likely to graduate high school as these losses become cumulative. Shalom Park Freedom School has a 90% success rate for preventing summer reading loss, with 65% of children gaining one or more levels of reading comprehension after just one summer!

Read Why a Shalom Park Freedom School