Friends giving high fives
August 21, 2018
With a new school year already upon us, the boys and girls at Mercy Home are hard at work preparing for another successful year! To help them get ready and have the best start possible, there are a few ways we prepare our kids for the first day of school and beyond.
We make sure our kids have all the supplies they need to start the new school year strong! Our kids fill their backpacks with notebooks, pens, highlighters, binders, index cards, calculators, and more. Most of the school supplies our kids receive are through Title I, which provides funds to places like Mercy Home who have high percentages of low-income children.
Our kids get to school in many different ways! Both our middle school boys and most of our young women are driven to school by Mercy Home coworkers. All of our young men high school age and older self-transport using public transportation. We practice public transportation routes with our kids so they always know where they are going.
Our kids learn all summer long, thanks to our Summer Enrichment program! Some of the things our kids worked on this summer included reviewing math skills, completing a book club, learning about velocity, and going through the scientific method to track and analyze data. Programs like summer enrichment help minimize the “summer melt” and keeps their skills fresh so they can go back to school feeling confident. Another plus? It helps our kids still have structure to their days and creates a routine for them over the summer.
One of the most important things the kids do to prep for the school year is getting and staying organized! Our kids receive supplies such as binders and planners to help them keep track of their homework and schedules. Our kids also benefit from a curriculum at Mercy Home that helps them build their organizational, test taking, and time management skills.
Our kids maintain a schedule all year round, but it really ramps up once school begins. During the school year, our kids wake up earlier and have longer study times to work on their homework. Our kids are matched to one on one tutors that they work with each week to help them succeed in school!
Many of our young people go to schools where they are required to wear uniforms. Before the school year starts, our kids go shopping with their school resources coordinator to make sure they have the clothes they need for school. Generally, they need four shirts, three bottoms, socks, shoes, and a gym uniform.
On a recent Sunday morning, a group of our young people and staff ran through Grant Park and the streets...
April 11, 2025
Adorning walls throughout Mercy Home for Boys & Girls every February are portraits of African American trailblazers, from activists such...
March 27, 2025
While St. Patrick’s Day fervor in Chicago was turned up to full throttle on the day of the downtown parade,...
March 26, 2025
Comments