Citizen Portal
Sign In

HeartMath tutoring shows early gains; district says program funded by philanthropy, not schools

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education · January 14, 2026
Article hero
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Chief academic officer Paula Wilkins and HeartMath representatives told the board the third-year tutoring partnership served roughly 150 students across three schools, with internal measures showing 98% of participants met growth goals; district staff said no district or Title I funds are used to operate the tutoring, which relies on fundraising and volunteers.

District officials and HeartMath representatives briefed the board on the third year of a volunteer tutoring partnership focused on early-grade math.

Chief Academic Officer Paula Wilkins said the program has expanded from one to three schools (Bolton, Easton and Petrie) and reported strong internal outcomes: "98 percent of the students showed growth in the 2 or more concepts," she said, and noted that the measures used are internal assessments rather than state end-of-grade tests. Wilkins said collective mastery of cited HeartMath skills rose from roughly 22% to 61% among targeted cohorts by the program's end measures.

Wilkins and HeartMath staff described the program as primarily volunteer-run: tutors and local fundraising cover operational costs and three on-site, part-time coordinators were hired using philanthropic funds. Wilkins stated, "Dollars 0 from the school. No Title I dollars, no school system dollars has been used to maintain this initiative." HeartMath representatives said they have raised approximately $75,000 as of early November with a remaining need a little over $150,000 to meet next-year expansion goals.

Board members asked how schools were selected, and Wilkins said selection was driven first by math performance data, then by principal readiness and willingness to support volunteers. Members also raised questions about tutor recruitment, long-term fundraising and the possibility of outcome-based contracting to assure measurable results.

The district said the program served about 150 students across the three schools, with 124 currently enrolled and 121 tutors. Officials said some schools have wait lists and that HeartMath hopes to add a fourth school by June 2026 if fundraising and recruitment targets are met.

What happens next: Staff will continue recruitment and fundraising work and the board discussed options for additional reporting on outcomes and potential pilot models for outcomes-based contracting.