The Neighborhood Academy (TNA) continues to be a beacon of hope for our community through this tough time. We have chosen not to let this current pandemic consume us and put our world on pause. For us, our mission of breaking the cycle of generational poverty through education has never been clearer.

The COVID-19 pandemic, while altering the daily operations and functionality of our educational model, called us to address the growing needs of our students and their families as we approach the upcoming 2020-21 Academic Year. Families send their child to TNA because we equip students with tools for success to meet their ultimate goals- graduating high school, going to college, and participating in a fulfilling career. First, they must have their basic needs met- food on the table, personal safety and security, and access to educational resources.

Our unique model allows us to regularly meet these basic needs and in times of extraordinary need, provide emergency medical and dental services, as well as food and clothing to our students. Unfortunately, we've had to think critically and put our best foot forward in order to sustain our mission and continue providing critical resources to meet these basic and extraordinary needs, and we will need to continue doing so for the foreseeable future.

Bridging the Digital Divide

Our Director of Technology conducted a student survey at the onset of the pandemic to learn which families, if any, needed technology support to assure that distance learning would occur each day with no obstacles. We learned that in 60% of our households, the only technology available was a TNA-provided laptop. Parents and other siblings are using that laptop for their schooling, job searches, and other daily tasks. At TNA, we utilize Google Classroom as the platform that houses all of our academic instruction, so it is very important that our students have uninhibited access.

Technology barriers impact our students and families significantly and we recognize that things must change to continue intentionally serving students from economically-distressed backgrounds and communities in the Pittsburgh region. However, we know how we can bridge the digital divide for our students and get them connected to the TNA experience to meet pivotal, academic goals.

TNA is supposed to be a home away from home for students, but with class moving from "home-room to the bedroom" and in consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe that your generous and timely support can help us make our students actual homes a more nurturing environment- suitable for the delivery of high-quality online education, personal growth, and counseling sessions.

50 Laptops

That's how many we will need to ensure a smooth transition into online learning, whether part-time or full-time, during the upcoming academic year. We will use these laptops to equip incoming students, replace broken laptops, and build a technology reserve for future TNA students. The approximate cost to purchase 50 Google Chromebook laptops, our standard equipment, is $12,500 ($250 per Chromebook).

If we reach our goal of $12,500 for laptops, any additional funds raised for the Technology Endowment Fund will be restricted and to only be utilized to conduct ongoing maintenance of laptops and to purchase necessary technology accessories, such as charging cords, headphones, etc...

Thank you for your ongoing support.