Over the past three years, E=O2™ has been piloting its program at the Colin Powell Academy of Success in North Long Beach. The outcomes achieved have been encouraging: of the 148 8th grade students who participated in the year long program (55% males and 45% females), all have successfully matriculated to high school. Disciplinary action, as measured by the number of referrals to the principal’s office, was significantly reduced by 73.5% – from an average of 1.85 times in the previous year, to 0.49 times the year they participated in the program. Participant’s grade point average (GPA) increased by 23.7% – from 2.24 the previous year, to 2.77 within the year they participated in the program. The increase among participants whose GPA at the beginning of the school year was 2.5 or less increased by 57.3% – from an average of 1.43 in the previous year, to 2.25 the year they participated in the program. Disciplinary actions were reduced by 76.8% – from an average of 2.98 times in the previous year, to 0.69 times. A more significant increase was noted among the 30% of participants whose GPA at the beginning of the school year was 1.5 or less. Among these participants, their average GPA increased by 73% – from an average of .89 in the previous year, to 2.4 the year they participated in the program. The program has provided over 45 laptops, printers, and flash drives to students earning at least a 3.5 GPA (or 30% of all students participating). Based on these results, we have decided to expand the E=O2™ program to three additional middle school Male and Female Academy Programs in Long Beach.
