Measuring What Matters
Every Gift Has An Impact
The unique Esperanza experience relies on the generosity of supporters like you. Every contribution, no matter the size, makes a difference.
Whether $5, $500, or $5,000, every dollar raised goes towards our vision of disrupting generational poverty through high-quality, joyful education.
To date, our community has raised $2.6 million to fuel our transformative, tuition-free independent school education and our 12+ year commitment to alumni with graduate support services.
Making an Impact is About More Than Numbers! In many ways, Esperanza Academy cannot be understood without numbers. Our results are impressive, meaningful, and lasting. But measuring impact is complicated and our work cannot be considered by numbers alone.
The true measure of Esperanza’s success is in the stories behind these numbers. The strength of our relationships, the obstacles we overcome, the partners who journey with us, and the size of our collective dreams. It is the smiles, the Aha! moments, and the lives changed that illustrate our greatest impact. Statistics, percentages, and ratios can only say so much about the complex student-centered work we do to create a just and joyful education for girls of color in Lawrence. Every day our community goes beyond the numbers to impact the lives of our students and graduates. Thank you for being among those we count on to create a more equitable world.
Esperanza Academy is a beautiful combination of the tangible and the indescribable. This year, our student ambassadors led 82 school tours, and every guest who walked through our hallways understood why Esperanza needs to exist in this world.
Our 7:1 student-teacher ratio helps shape the futures of our 63 exceptional students—100% girls of color uplifted in a 100% tuition-free middle school. However, the true impact of this work is felt when you see the students expressing their opinions and ideas, watch them advocate for what and how they learn, or hear them say they feel safe, loved, and supported in our school community.
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Fifth graders spent 86 hours in Circle Practice experiencing what it means to be part of a restorative justice school committed to relationships and community building. Students sit with teachers and peers to get to know one another, make goals together, resolve conflicts, and celebrate.
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From Bachata to Beyoncé, music is part of the vibration of our school. Between Music Therapy programming, weekly Chapel, and Friday lunch singalongs, structured community music time creates a space for students to express themselves and restore their well-being.
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Our 21 afterschool partners and 18 summer programs provided hundreds of extracurricular hours for each student. From entrepreneurship to robotics to volleyball, fun and screen-free activities offer opportunities for growth and learning.
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Every school year begins with a spark. In August, 64 middle school girls, 20 faculty and staff, and 840 pounds of suitcases leave the city and head to Lake Winnipesaukee for 3 incredible days of camping, adventure, and community building. In a favorite arts and crafts activity, students practice patience and play with paraffin to make candles to burn at the final campfire.
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As the only school in the country to receive the prestigious National Partnership for Educational Access “Leadership in Equity” Award of Excellence, we are asked to share our stories of creativity and innovation in response to systemic racism with diverse audiences.
1 Magical Evening
Over 250 Esperanza community members, including parents, students, alumni, faculty, long-time supporters, and new friends, gathered for an unforgettable Hope Rising Spring Gala. We celebrated 18 years of our transformative education program and our 12+ year graduate support commitment. We raised over $394,000, with 100% of the funds directly supporting our tuition-free school.
25,800 Meals
Feeding our community is an act of love. Every day, students and teachers come together for a hot breakfast, nutritious lunch, and healthy snacks. Requests for cultural favorites like rice and beans, pastelitos, and plantains make up some of the 48 mealtime suggestions the kitchen team strives to accommodate.
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The class of 2024 achieved 220% of their projected growth in math from last Spring. Testing results support data-driven instruction by helping teachers understand where students are making gains and where they still need intervention. Four student math officers led 3 Community Morning Meetings to make math 100% fun!
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Three times a year, students take the lead in conferences with parents and teachers. In a practice designed by the school’s Justice Lab, students are expected to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the Habits of Learning and take responsibility for their academic performance.
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It’s no wonder the eighth grade achieved 182% of their projected growth in reading from Spring 2023. The class read 9 books, published 16 social justice zines, and collectively made nearly 1,000 edits to their final papers on the life of Frederick Douglass.
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A student delegation represented countries from Haiti to Ukraine in a simulated United Nations General Assembly meeting on the global issue of improving access to clean water. The immersive experience, as part of seventh-grade social studies, fosters understanding and collaboration.
2 Astronauts
Female aerospace engineers from SpaceX spent the day at Esperanza Academy building model rockets, sharing details of their intense training regimen, and talking about their mission to space. Our endlessly curious students asked what it’s like for women in a male-dominated field, what the astronauts eat when they’re up in orbit, and how they would handle a medical emergency in space.
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Sixteen students were offered a total of $604,000 in financial aid from 36 schools for the upcoming year. After 40 in-person campus visits, 92 applications, 400 essays, 44 recommendation letters, and 60 interviews, 8th graders are headed to their right-fit and top-choice high schools.
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The 3-member graduate success team drove across the region to visit dozens of alumni at high schools and colleges, dropping off care packages, checking in with advisors, and trading book stipends for progress meetings.
32,720 Square Feet
More space, more joy, more result. More students, more families, more services. In only two years, Esperanza’s Ready to Rise campaign raised 90% of our $30M goal through 19 individual donations and foundation grants.
In Fall 2024 we break ground on a beautiful new school building. Highlights include:
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Increasing capacity by 157% from 63 current 5th-8th grade students to 162 K-8th grade students.
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Zero-cost access to healthy food, school supplies, and winter layers will be available from our in-school Bodega.
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A science laboratory will help our students see themselves as engineers, doctors, and astronomers.
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By 2030, 336 alumni will drop in our Graduate Success Center for workshops, a quiet place to study, or a chance to catch up with old classmates in the salon chair.
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And plenty of cozy places to get lost in a story in our culturally curated library.
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For music, arts, and movement in our new Wellness Center, supporting enhanced creative therapy services for individuals and groups.
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And room to garden on school grounds, drawing students and teachers outside for fun and hands-on learning.
