Sylvan Learning of Johnston & Des Moines Awarded $450,000 Grant for Accelerated After-School Tutoring

DES MOINES, Iowa — Sylvan Learning of Johnston & Des Moines is proud to announce that it has been awarded a $450,000 grant funded by the State of Iowa to provide accelerated after-school tutoring to students in Des Moines Public Schools. The grant, part of Iowa's Beyond the Bell initiative, will focus on addressing the significant learning loss experienced by students due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grant funds have been allocated to three Des Moines high schools: East High School, Roosevelt High School and Hoover High School. Through these funds, Sylvan’s certified teachers will be providing a personalized education plan to help bridge the skill gaps of students while building their confidence. The teaching will be on a 4-to-1 basis, with one teacher for every four students using Sylvan’s proprietary technology and multisensory approaches to make a difference for these at-risk students.

“This is such a great use of this money because you had at-risk children and students before, but now after COVID, every student had at least six months of learning loss,” said co-owner April Samp. “Our goal is to try to make up for a year’s worth of learning loss in this time frame.”

The program kicked off in early August and will continue through January 2025. Sylvan Learning has already begun assessing and enrolling students, with the aim of serving at least 160 students across the three schools. The tutoring program is designed to provide a “five-star Sylvan experience” with individualized instruction tailored to meet each student's specific needs.

“Even though we’re going into the schools and it’s an after-school tutoring program, we are still giving this everything that Sylvan has to offer because these families deserve it,” Samp said. “We’ve already had families who have enrolled who are crying tears of joy because they’re just like, ‘My gosh, this is a dream come true.’”

The $450,000 grant is distributed as follows: East High School will receive $149,000, Roosevelt High School will receive $149,000 and Hoover High School will receive $150,000. The funds will be specifically used for accelerated tutoring after school, targeting students who have fallen behind academically.

“We are working on how to continue this into the schools because it’s a vital service that takes the pressure off of the school district. It’s a turnkey approach where we find the teachers, we provide the programming, we liaise with the parents — plus it’s data-driven.”

Sylvan Learning is ready and able to expand this program to other school districts, utilizing Title I funding, as it has successfully done in other districts. “My hope is that we can get the word out and other schools will say, ‘That’s what we need to do. Let’s call Sylvan and have them come into our school,’” Samp said.

To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/sylvanlearning.

ABOUT SYLVAN LEARNING

With more than 45 years of experience and more than 710 points of presence, Sylvan Learning is the leading provider of personal learning for students in grades K-12. Sylvan is transforming how students learn, inspiring them to succeed in school and in life. Sylvan’s proven tutoring approach blends amazing teachers with SylvanSync™ technology on the iPad® for an engaging learning experience. Sylvan also leads the way with Sylvan EDGE — STEM and accelerated courses and Sylvan Prep — college and test prep courses. Sylvan supports families through every stage of the academic journey.  For more information, visit www.SylvanLearning.com.