CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With the support of HSBC, Horizons National has launched three new Horizons programs in Chicago this summer. Two programs serve families on the South Side and another focuses on the West Side of the city.
HSBC and Horizons make the announcement on the eve of National Summer Learning Day, an advocacy day aimed at elevating the importance of keeping kids learning, safe, and healthy during the summer break from school.
By providing low-income children with an opportunity to gain, rather than lose, skills each summer and throughout the school year, Horizons National makes an ideal investment for HSBC in Chicago. Preventing a summer slide is the source of increased anxiety for many Chicago families, including those on the South and West sides of the city, where the four-year high school graduation rate is less than 75%. Horizons can help to address that, since the program’s participants in other cities currently demonstrate a high school graduation rate of 97% on average, and 91% of these graduates go on to college or other post-secondary education.
The HSBC grant of $1.5 million to Horizons National, announced in 2017, has helped the program explore expanding in New York City and is bringing Horizons to new cities, starting with Chicago.
Students who participate in Horizons’ highly effective, tuition-free, six-week summer program gain 8-12 weeks on average in reading and math compared to the 8-12 week loss most low-income children experience. More than four in five students return to the program year after year from kindergarten through high school, building lasting relationships with their teachers and peers while developing essential life skills. This impacts Horizons’ success with high school graduation rates, which outpace the national average.
“These gaps in opportunity and achievement affect everyone. It’s easy to think, ‘this isn’t my problem,’ but limited opportunity and achievement for any one of us means a limited future for all of us,” said Horizons National CEO, Lorna Smith.
“HSBC wants to help people realize their ambitions, and through this partnership we’ll be able to help more children aspire to achieving their potential,” said Patrick J. Burke, President and Chief Executive Officer, HSBC USA. “I invite the public to see first-hand what Horizons National has achieved and to join us in supporting its programs in Chicago and their hometowns.”
Find out more at horizonsnational.org and join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.
Note to editors:
Horizons National is a growing, community-centered network of over 50 affiliate sites across the country that provides high-quality academic enrichment programs to children in need, from Pre-K through high school. Coming to Horizons with a broad range of academic ability, low-income students discover the joy of learning, the skills for success, and the inspiration to achieve their dreams. With an intensive six-week summer program, plus afterschool and weekend programs throughout the year, Horizons students explore a project-based curriculum and focus on reading and STEM, and participate in the arts, fitness, nutrition, and field trips. Horizons programs are located on the campuses of independent schools, charter schools, colleges, and universities, and are taught by professional teachers with a 5:1 student to teacher ratio.
HSBC Bank USA, National Association (HSBC Bank USA, N.A.) serves customers through retail banking and wealth management, commercial banking, private banking, and global banking and markets segments. It operates bank branches in: California; Connecticut; Delaware; Washington, D.C.; Florida; Maryland; New Jersey; New York; Pennsylvania; Virginia; and Washington. HSBC Bank USA, N.A. is the principal subsidiary of HSBC USA Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC North America Holdings Inc. HSBC Bank USA, N.A. is a Member of the FDIC. Investment and brokerage services are provided through HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., (Member NYSE/FINRA/ SIPC) and insurance products are provided through HSBC Insurance Agency (USA) Inc.
