Activities range from a weekend at a science camp to academic tutoring and career counseling. Community involvement is crucial to the success of Project HighRoad. Many parents in HighRoad communities are single mothers trying to raise healthy children in neighborhoods where drugs, teenage pregnancies and violence are prevalent. Their children may have been led to view the police as their adversary. Reading scores and attendance are up in HighRoad schools.
Substance abuse is down.
And these efforts do not stop when students leave middle school. HighRoad Alumni Clubs offer opportunities for graduates by providing courses for college placement exams, continuing substance abuse prevention and more. Like other New Visions programs, Project HighRoad has attracted national attention. This year New Visions is helping educators in St. Louis and East St. Louis adopt the HighRoad model.