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The Davie Family YMCA was awarded a 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant worth $1.2 million over the next three years, which will help achieve educational equity.

This grant will serve 200 students at Cooleemee and Cornatzer elementary schools, as well as North and South Davie middle schools for after school and summer education programming. This will be done through a program called Access Academy, done in partnership with Davie County Schools.

“We are thrilled to receive this grant, and we’re even more excited to see what the Y and Davie County Schools can accomplish together with it,” said Kim McClure, vice president of youth development for the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina.

Access Academy will provide social and emotional support, academic interventions, and summer learning loss programming. The purpose is to address socioeconomic disparities in education, ensuring every child regardless of income or background can learn, grow, and thrive while providing pathways to high school graduation and post secondary opportunities.   

“Helping the youth in our communities succeed is a critical part of what the Y does. Access Academy will give students the opportunity to excel and grow in confidence,” said Luke Harris, executive director of the Davie Family YMCA.

The program structure is designed to provide differentiated and targeted academic support in conjunction with existing supports in Davie County Schools to help improve the academic outcome for economically disadvantaged youth.

“We are grateful for the strong partnership between the Davie Family YMCA and Davie County Schools,” said Jeff Wallace, superintendent of Davie County Schools. “When community organizations unite efforts to support students, the entire community benefits. Our collaboration presents great efforts for Davie County. This grant directly supports our tutoring program, and we are blessed that our children will benefit so much from it.”