It’s “Napa-ning!” This summer, Aim High launched its first campus in the heart of wine country. Eighty sixth and seventh grade students joined our program for its inaugural summer in the Napa Valley; all had a joyful experience.

Summer Number One is a Success Two Napa educators—Jen Veveiros, a fifth grade teacher in the Napa Valley School District, and Noemi Degante, the Program Coordinator for On The Move, a Napa youth development organization— enthusiastically directed a collaborative 15-person faculty of teachers, assistants, and support specialists. Like Jen and Noemi, their staff was completely new to Aim High, but quickly caught on to the magic. Even within the first few days of the program, “Teachers were perfectly on point and working together as a cooperative team,” observed Suzy Garren, who helped launch the Napa campus.

Students and staff alike were thrilled with the program and the experiences it afforded. “Students came out of their shell,” Noemi said. “We had a few students who were extremely shy, and they really blossomed. They performed, spoke in public, participated in activities, and really pushed themselves to make friends.” When asked what her favorite thing about Aim High was, Jennifer, a seventh grade student, immediately replied, “Everything.”

There are many families that cannot afford to pay for good programs in the summer. If it wasn’t for Aim High, many students would have likely stayed at home bored.Noemi Degante, Aim High Napa Site Director

More to Napa Than Meets the Eye Napa is world-famous as a region rich with vineyards spread across rolling hills. Less known is that there is a growing low-income population in need of academic support and enrichment. According to the 2013 Napa Valley Community Health Assessment, the achievement gap between low-income children in Napa and their higher-income peers is tremendous. Only 15% of 3rd grade English Language Learners (ELL)—a substantial subset of Napa students—are reading at or above grade level, compared to 61% of all other students. And in addition, Latinos, socioeconomically disadvantaged students, and English Language Learners are overrepresented among high school dropouts in Napa County. The lack of summer opportunities available to low-income students contributes to and accentuates the disparity in Napa. “There is not a quality summer program in Napa,” says Jen. In recent years, as California has looked for ways to curb spending, summer programming is among the first things cut, leaving low-income students high and dry. Families have struggled to find ways to keep students engaged. For the many parents who work during the day, they especially want their children to be safe. “There are many families that cannot afford to pay for good programs in the summer,” Noemi says. “If it wasn’t for Aim High, many students would have likely stayed at home, bored.”

The Origins of Aim High Napa Aim High Napa began to take shape three years ago when the S.H. Cowell Foundation suggested Aim High expand into the Napa region. The foundation had already helped Aim High launch in another rural community—Tahoe/Truckee. Upon seeing Aim High’s success there, the Cowell Foundation believed a program in Napa could achieve similar outcomes. Alec Lee, Aim High’s co-founder and executive director, agreed. “Napa is very similar to Tahoe/Truckee in that there is a huge achievement gap,” he says. “There’s significant number of first generation [college] kids with very limited opportunities, and we thought we would be able to do good work.” Cowell connected Aim High to On The Move and the Napa Valley Unified School District who wanted a quality summer program in Napa. “There’s a lot of innovation happening in Napa schools, so there was a lot of synergy between us,” Alec said. Meanwhile, funders started to pay attention. The Napa Valley Vintners, the Napa Valley Community Foundation, and the Jones Family Foundation signed on as founding anchor funders. Aim High knew that with their help, launching a campus in Napa would no longer be a vision. It would be a vibrant reality. If this past summer is any indication of what’s to come next year, Summer Number Two is sure to be a success, and Jen and Noemi are ready. “I want to see the difference Aim High made on our students and how it helped them through school year,” Noemi says. Aim High looks forward to summer 2017 when they grow from serving 80 students to 100. Further reading See what parents had to say about Aim High’s summer program in the Napa Valley Register.