LA ESCUELITA

La Escuelita (Spanish for “little school”) was founded in 1991 as a result of the collaboration between Chicanos Latinos Unidos en Servicio (CLUES) and Minneapolis Public School District teachers. In 1998 La Escuelita was granted its nonprofit status 501(c)(3) and became an independent youth development organization that began to build its own administrative structure. Today, La Escuelita is the premier organization in Minnesota that provides academic support for students of color in a culturally and linguistically appropriate educational setting.

La Escuelita’s mission is:

“To achieve educational equity in Minnesota through academic support and advocacy that empowers Latino youth and their families”.

We articulate our mission through these goals:

Goal 1: To reduce the dropout rate among Hispanic students in Minnesota.
Goal 2: To close the Hispanic Achievement Gap in Minnesota.

2008-2009 was an amazing year for the agency! We experienced an increased demand for our services, as well as increased the population we serve (380 students, 220 parents, and over 300 community members have attended our programs), we expanded our program offering (adding Teaching the Teachers, Educating Parents of Color, Taking Care of Business, Teaching Technology, Educacion Artistica and the A Day in My Skin Educational Summit to be held in Spring 2010), has become a leading educational advocacy center (we hosted 13 events focused in closing the achievement gap, reducing the dropout rate, and securing access to higher education for students of color), and have become the leading agency of the Latino Youth Development Collaborative, and the Minnesota Alliance for Strong Latino Communities.

Also, during 2009 La Escuelita partnered with the National Society of Hispanic MBAs, Wells Fargo, and Minneapolis Public Schools to host the events Education for Success and 100 Strong Who Care during the NSHMBA National Conference in Minneapolis, these were ground-breaking initiatives to serve youth of color that will continue into the future.

In these challenging times we are blessed to receive the strong support from local corporate, private and public foundations. More recently in a milestone decision the agency in partnership with El Colegio was awarded a multi-annual (2009-2012) 21st Century Grant from the MN Department of Education in the amount of $450,000. This means that La Escuelita will significantly increase the people we serve, the programs we offer, and the impact we have in our community! We hope that you decide to become an equal partner in our pursuit to serve youth of color and their families. Together, we will create a more viable community life for all and we extend an invitation to continue this journey with our organization for many more years to come.