Heart Math Tutoring (Heart Tutoring), a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students in high-poverty elementary schools, today announced that Barings, one of the world’s leading financial services firms, has provided a school sponsorship grant to fund over half of the cost of Heart Tutoring in a school site. This grant, which reflects an increase from Barings’ contribution last year, will allow 50-80 students to receive one-on-one tutoring from September 2019 to May 2020. Funding supports an on-site Program Coordinator, tutoring supplies, and two annual family engagement events.
“We are grateful to Barings for aligning volunteers and capital to bring tutoring to more students,” said Emily Gaffney, Executive Director of Heart Math Tutoring. “Barings’ gift leads the way as we head into school and tutor recruitment season, allowing us to provide even more students with the opportunity to succeed in school and beyond.”
Barings employees have been volunteering with Heart Tutoring since 2015. In addition to a financial partnership, Barings currently has 22 employees who are weekly volunteers with the program.
“We are pleased to support Heart Tutoring and believe strongly in the organization’s mission of helping students develop math skills and academic confidence,” said Adam Schauer, four-year Heart Tutor and Barings Client Portfolio Manager. “Education is a core pillar of the Barings’ social impact strategy and we believe by providing students with access to programs like Heart Tutoring, we are helping open the doors to skills students need to succeed.”
56 percent of economically disadvantaged students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) performed below grade level in math on 2018 North Carolina End-of-Grade Tests. In response, Heart Tutoring recruits, trains, and supports volunteers as tutors in high-poverty CMS elementary schools. Over 1,050 community members, including many Barings employees, spend one hour each week delivering Heart Tutoring’s activity-based, structured curriculum.
With the support of partners like Barings, Heart Tutoring has grown from serving 105 students across two schools to more than 1,000 students across 22 school sites in just six years. Since the beginning of the program, 98 percent of over 2,400 students have met program growth goals in math, growing in two or more building block concept areas. Throughout the 2017/18 school year, 89 percent of teachers observed an increase in student confidence and enthusiasm toward math as a result of Heart Tutoring, and 62 percent reported students are more confident in subjects other than math.
About Heart Math Tutoring
Heart Math Tutoring is a Charlotte-based nonprofit with a mission to ensure that all elementary students develop the strong foundation in math and enthusiasm for academics needed for long-term success, by helping schools use volunteers as tutors. Community members commit one hour per week to deliver an effective, hands-on curriculum through one-on-one tutoring sessions during the school day in high-poverty elementary schools. For more information, visit hearttutoring.org.
About Barings
Barings is a $317+ billion global financial services firm dedicated to meeting the evolving investment and capital needs of our clients and customers. Through active asset management and direct origination, we provide innovative solutions and access to differentiated opportunities across public and private capital markets. A subsidiary of MassMutual, Barings maintains a strong global presence with business and investment professionals located across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.