SUMMIT ACADEMY OIC

Summit Academy OIC exists to assist individuals in developing their ability to earn and to become contributing citizens in their community. We fulfill this mission by equipping low-income workers of color with the education, skills, and networks required to overcome barriers to economic opportunity.

We utilize two key strategies to support the emerging workforce and to achieve our goal of increasing equity in employment:

On the macro level, Summit focuses on policy change to support equitable access to post-secondary education and family-sustaining employment opportunities; advocates for changes to exclusionary hiring practices; and works to increase recognition of the GED as a workforce development tool.

On the micro level, Summit has built a strong training platform that produces a pipeline of skilled workers for regional employers. By providing hundreds of individuals with an accredited, no-cost credential annually, we are creating stronger families and better neighborhoods.

Summit is an accredited post-secondary institution that educates and supports 900+ individuals annually, and pursues systems change that directly increases economic opportunities for low-income students of color. The Council on Occupational Education (COE) is our accrediting body, and requires that we meet 11 core standards and 250 criteria annually. Summit offers 20-week CTE training programs in the high-demand fields of Construction, Healthcare, and IT. Additionally, we offer an accelerated, contextualized 30-week GED-to-certificate program. Summit’s programming is designed with stackable credentials in mind. Students who successfully complete their program earn a certificate, and leave Summit with the education, training, and networking abilities to earn certifications, licenses, badges, apprenticeships, and union memberships. We have recently incorporated the AVID Higher Education (AHE) model into our programming. AVID, which stands for Achievement Via Individual Determination, is a research-based higher education model that uses strategies and curriculum to help students succeed in school, especially students who are traditionally underrepresented in postsecondary education. All training is offered at no-cost to students, with no out-of-pocket expenses or loans.

Summit’s job training and placement strategy begins at the student recruitment phase and continues post-placement. We prioritize student recruitment initiatives and marketing strategies to communities of color across the Twin Cities with high incidences of unemployment and poverty. Through our Summit Prep tutoring program, we provide structured support and instruction for incoming students who need to take and pass our entrance exam. Summit utilizes a research-based higher education model that is designed to close the achievement gap, help traditionally undereducated students succeed in school, and prepare them for career readiness. Our Career Services staff prepare students for career success after program completion through resume writing support, mock interviews, professional etiquette exercises, and career exploration. Once students are placed in jobs, Career Services staff connect with them and their employers at one, three, six, and twelve months of employment. We want to ensure that job performance and job satisfaction is achieved by both employee and employer. Summit wants our graduates to succeed, and know they are capable of doing so. The ultimate success for the organization is the outcome – a graduate placed in a job with sustainable wages. All of the organization’s efforts are targeted to continuously move underemployed and unemployed people of color into sustainable employment with opportunities for career advancement.

Summit’s economic impact on its students and the larger community through the creation of career pathways is transformative. Over the last two years, Summit has made significant achievements through the following programs, initiatives, and partnerships:

Women Wear Hard Hats Too (WWHHT) was developed as a program to inspire more women to enter the Skilled Trades field. Since the inception of the program, we have implemented new strategies to enroll more women, better supported women through program completion, increased female student retention, and ensured that upon completion, female graduates were equipped with the skills and knowledge to be successful in the field.

In collaboration with HIRE Minnesota, a campaign to end racial employment disparities in the state, Summit was contracted as the Employment Assistance Firm (EAF) for US Bank Stadium. We exceeded the established job placement goals for women and minorities in the construction of and staffing for the stadium.

Northside STEM is our newest game changing initiative that addresses the equity, education, employment, and business challenges of the poorest neighborhoods in Minneapolis by building an education and employer network that will train 1,000 children of color a year in coding, robotics, game design, and gaming.

Summit saw an increase in retention, graduation, and job placement rates from fiscal year 2017 to 2018. We attribute these results, in part, to the implementation of AVID curriculum and the addition of our Contextualized GED Program and Summit Prep tutoring program.

AVID is a research-based higher education model that uses strategies and curriculum to help students succeed in school, especially students who are traditionally underrepresented in post-secondary education. Summit continues to seek ways to amplify the retention and persistence strategies that were identified as a result of our 9-month pilot implementation. Key indicators point to a need for early and consistent intervention to mitigate barriers to success. Lessons learned have led Summit to increase the amount of time inside and outside of the classroom that each student will engage with AVID-ized curriculum, instructors, advisors, and career counseling staff. Students across all programs continue to spend more in-class time focused on developing the critical thinking, communication, emotional intelligence, and collaborative problem-solving skills they will need to persist to program completion and succeed in the workforce.