We will pilot the program during the 2020/21 school year at Wilde Lake High School. We will do so by forming Ohanas (extended community families) around eight 9th grade students with substantial academic need. The eight students and their respective Ohana will meet and form their group in August 2020.
Our target universe, Wilde Lake High School, has 1,436 children, which includes approximately 390 9th grade students. The bottom 25th percentile of the 9th grade class would be 98 students. Our pilot of eight children is 8% of our Wilde Lake universe.
OhanaHC’s pilot year at Wilde Lake High School will allow us to start the process of reducing the isolation of volunteers, children, and their families by forming deep connections to each other. The knowledge gained in the 2020/21 school year will help us expand as we look to move the program into three other local high schools: Hammond, Long Reach, and Oakland Mills.