46 students in Manatee County received 500 tutoring sessions during the pandemic

Bradenton, Fla. – The John J. Gorr Foundation of Manatee Community Foundation supported the Children’s Guardian Fund with a $20,000 grant for tutoring in March 2020.

With close to 900 children in Manatee County currently in foster and state care, this at-risk population is in need of academic support more than ever.  Children who have been removed from their parents due to abuse and/or neglect are nearly always way behind their peers in school.  Because removals are usually emergencies,  the children are placed wherever a place can be found, and then they are moved, again and again, an average of 2.5 times per school year, all while dealing with the loss of parental support and various childhood traumas.  The vast majority do not have a solid foundation of education in the home.  They find it nearly impossible to catch up to grade level.  The drop-out level before high school graduation is painfully high.  And now, COVID-19 has created an additional barrier to learning.

Because of the generosity of the John J. Gorr Foundation of Manatee Community Foundation, 46 students in Manatee County received a total of 500 hour-long professional tutoring sessions during the pandemic.