Englewood Board of Education leaders and program partners on Wednesday recognized students and presented early outcome data from three district tutoring initiatives — Upchieve, a High Impact Tutoring (HIT) grant with Huntington Learning Center, and a Title I tutoring program — saying the programs expanded access to academic support and produced substantial short‑term gains.

The district presented participation and outcomes during the meeting. “At Dwight Morrow High School, we had 1,123 student sign ups, over 3,450 tutoring sessions were completed, and nearly 690 total hours of academic support,” Amy Lopardi, interim director of technology, said of Upchieve, the on‑demand tutoring platform integrated with district devices. She added that Janice Dismiss Middle School recorded 362 signups, more than 1,650 tutoring sessions and about 260 hours of support.

Why it matters: Board members and families said expanded, reliable tutoring addresses immediate learning gaps and can raise student confidence. District presenters tied the programs to federal Title I funding and grant supports, reporting growth metrics the district described as evidence the investments produced measurable learning increases.

Program details and reported outcomes
- Upchieve: Amy Lopardi said the platform was made available through the district’s device program and promoted in school communications and advisory periods. District presenters said students used the service for subjects from algebra to chemistry and for college planning. School leaders cited a “52% increase in tutoring participation since November,” and Lopardi said “3 out of 4 surveyed students report improvements in their core grades.”

- High Impact Tutoring (HIT) with Huntington: Teresa Manziano and Viola Feld of Huntington described a year‑long program focused on grades 3 and 4 that ran from June 2024 through June 30, 2025. Manziano said the grant allotted each student up to 210 hours through the grant and that Huntington funded an additional 355 hours; the presenters reported that 23 students enrolled and 20 remained actively engaged, completing 5,585 hours of tutoring including nearly 740 hours during a June academic camp. Manziano summarized subject gains, saying accuracy and fluency measures rose district presenters gave a combined example: “Accuracy scores in reading, math, sight words grew from 25% to 55%.”

- Title I tutoring program: The district said the Title I–funded model offered single‑subject tutoring across grades 1–12, with a target of 300 students and 244 participants (an 81% participation rate). Presenters reported more than 9,000 hours of tutoring delivered; 189 students completed the primary 30 hours, and 32 students completed 60 hours where additional hours were provided. The district reported average verbal growth of “1 to 2 years of grade‑level improvement,” with grade‑level examples including 2.5 grade levels for some grade 6 students and 2 grade levels for some high school students. Math gains were reported as high as 2.9 grade levels for grade 9 on average in the subgroup reported.

Questions and next steps
Several public commenters and board members asked for more detail on how the gains were measured, including the specific assessments and testing conditions. Donovan Rodrigues, an Englewood resident, asked whether reported grade‑level equivalency (GLE) gains were based on pre‑ and post‑tests administered under equivalent conditions and requested average cohort gains rather than maximums shown for individual students. The district said it would compile the requested evaluation material and provide the underlying assessments and spreadsheets to board members.

District officials clarified access and cost: the board was told there was no charge to students for Upchieve, the HIT grant services or the Title I tutoring; those programs were funded through district grants and federal Title I funding and private partner contributions where noted.

Context and limitations
Presenters credited partners — Verizon Innovative Learning Schools and Digital Promise for Upchieve and Huntington for HIT and Title I delivery — while noting that implementation required outreach, bilingual family materials, teacher supports and attendance‑driven impact. Presenters repeatedly linked stronger gains to consistent attendance and higher hours of tutoring completed.

Ending: District staff said they will post additional documentation on the district website and supply spreadsheets and assessment source details to board members for follow‑up. The board thanked students and partners and invited continued reporting on evaluation and plans to scale or modify services.