About GAP Academy
The GAP (Greater Academic Performance) Academy assist youth and students academically achieve more in school and college. Our goal is to increase skill performance in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects and help students who desire educational success.
GAP’s vision is to have a well-educated global society, where individuals have an equal opportunity to learn and reach their maximum potential. Our mission is to provide access to excellent community based educational enrichment experiences in local neighborhoods for underserved, under resourced and underrepresented youth and students.
The GAP Academy in its third year of operation is a program that takes learning to the student on a Saturday in a user-friendly approach. Children in grades six through nine receive tutoring in STEM subjects. Students in grades 10, 11, and 12 receive scholarships to enroll in a college course delivered at the local community college. Through greater academic performance and school success, young people build self-esteem, avoid anti-social behavior and attain high school graduation. They are better prepared for college as well as being better prepared for gainful employment. GAP’s methods increase academic skill performance in STEM subjects and improves our students’ desire for educational success. Click here for the 2024 Report.
Karen Hardin, Ed.D - Executive Director
Karen Hardin, Ed.D received Faculty Emeritus distinction from the Maricopa Community Colleges to honor her 31-year career fostering student success at Mesa Community College. Passionate about recruiting and retaining underserved students, as a faculty member and chair of the MCC Counseling Department, Dr. Karen Hardin mentored students individually and through large-scale programs. Karen served as the faculty advisor for MCC’s NAACP club for 28 years and was the co-founding adviser for the National Society of Collegiate Scholars at MCC. She has served in leadership roles for the MCC Faculty Senate and Maricopa Council on Black American Affairs. Her community service includes the NAACP Maricopa County chapter where she is the President and Arizona College Chapters Coordinator. In addition to several service awards, she is a YWCA Tribute to Women Honoree and received the Dr. Martin Luther King Achievement Award in 2010. Dr. Hardin is a licensed professional counselor and holds a doctorate in educational leadership and counseling.
Programs
GAP Academy Enrichment Program The GAP Academy in its third year of operation is a program that takes learning to the student on a Saturday in a user-friendly approach. Children in grades six through nine receive tutoring in STEM subjects.
Students in grades 10, 11 and 12 receive scholarships to enroll in a college course delivered at the local community college.
Through greater academic performance and school success, young people build self-esteem, avoid anti-social behavior and attain high school graduation. They are better prepared for college as well as being better prepared for gainful employment. GAP’s methods increase academic skill performance in STEM subjects and improves our students’ desire for educational success.
Youth, Family and Parenting Skills Program The GAP “Opportunity Families” are parents, grandparents and/or guardians of our students who may benefit from many of the educational opportunities other families have access to and often take for granted.
Monthly workshops offer help, information and empowerment techniques on how to navigate the education system and support their child’s educational journey.
Enrollment Application
Click here to access the Enrollment Application
2022 Program Information
January thru June 2022
Learning Sessions:
1st & 3rd Saturday Of Each Month
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Grades K-8
Support
Become a Sponsor. Please consider supporting the program budget of the GAP Academy. We provide innovative, solutionoriented programs for youth and their parents, and we have increased our students’ academic skill performance by over 55% in STEM subjects. Your philanthropic investment will help create and play an increasingly important role in helping the GAP Academy achieve its mission and enable our programs to be offered to students in a manner, which is affordable and sustainable.
- Sponsorship Opportunities
- Scholarships to assist students with program and college course cost
- School supplies donation
Why Our Work is Important
The need for the GAP Academy is demonstrated by underperforming schools in the metropolitan Phoenix communities of color 19.5% of the residents are without a high school diploma or GED (Census 2019). The low-income areas in these communities have a poverty rate of 22% (Census 2019), which is more than double the rate of the City of Phoenix, and more than four times the rate of poverty for the entire state of Arizona. The unemployment rate in these areas is also highly disproportionate to the City of Phoenix 5% (Census 2019), while in low resourced communities the unemployment rate may be as high as 15%. Because of these alarming statistics, which are similar to other major cities across the United States, the Gap Academy provides an intervention that gives students hope and skills for a better future. Disturbing statistics about high school graduation rates motivates and informs our programming.
Why our work is important
Here are the facts:
-Among recent dropouts, 12% are unemployed and 32% live below the poverty line.
-Dropouts with jobs earn an average of only $439 per week, with the most common jobs found in the construction, food service, and landscaping industries.
-In the United States, high school dropouts commit 75% of crimes and account for 68% of the prison population.
-Arizona had a graduation rate of 78% in 2017. Phoenix has the fourth highest dropout rate in the United States.
-The graduation rate for Latinx students in Arizona is 74% and 73% for African American students, trailing behind the national average of 80%.
-Nearly 4 in 10 minority students do not graduate with their High-school dropouts face daunting challenges. Skills in STEM subjects and educational attainment is increasingly important in today’s economy. The GAP Academy’s activities include “intergenerational” mentoring. It is important to pass down wisdom that comes from experience and provide students with practical application of their academic skills
Contact Us
Dr. Karen Hardin
Executive Director
e-mail: gapacademy21@gmail.com
phone: 480-705-6557
Ms. Myisha Brown, Program Coordinator
Ms. Eboni Cotton, Instructional Coordinator