Project Neo

What it reported doing in 2016

Project NEO (Nexus, Enrichment, Opportunities) provides a one-on-one peer based tutoring program that aims to promote academic excellence, individual responsibility and accountability among at-risk youth and provide leadership skills development and mentoring for participating high school and college aged volunteers. The project utilizes a proven peer-to-peer tutoring method during after-school hours that has been extremely effective with youth in disadvantaged and at-risk situations and focuses on core remedial reading, writing, and math strategies essential to sustained academic success.Project NEO staff members work diligently with school-based faculty to identify students experiencing low academic performance in one or multiple core subjects. Research-based assessment data, provided by MetaMetrics, Inc. and K12, Inc., are used to strategically match participants with trained high school or college-level peer tutors who provide individualized tutoring in core subject areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), homework assistance, and ongoing educational and emotional support. Students are re-assessed quarterly to track progress and to adjust instruction. As a result of the program, participants have not only experienced higher reading scores, but have more importantly displayed increased confidence levels as well as positive changes in attitudes toward school and learning.In response to the growing number of students who are failing academically, Project NEO leverages community resources to create safe places for these young people to enhance their skills. As part of its leadership development program, Project NEO recently initiated a Student Leaders Board which will consist of 19 bright individuals from local high schools and colleges. The purpose of Project NEO is to enhance the educational skills of at-risk youth and to increase socialization, self-esteem, and communication skills that will empower our young leaders. College and high school-age youth are struggling to find meaningful opportunities to utilize their knowledge in the community that fulfill university and college requirements to continue their education and develop their leadership skills that will carry them through to their future careers. Thus, Project NEO responds to the needs of two groups of young peoplethe youth being tutored and those providing the assistance.As standard school matriculation requires more advanced skills of our youth over time, the deficit of foundational skills creates compounding issues, ultimately impacting all subject areas. Young students experience a downward spiral of achievement, drive, and confidence, leading to remediation and retention. This not only affects the individual students, but also the schools and the school district. Unfortunately, these entities no longer have adequate funding to provide the necessary academic support that would help prevent many of the academic challenges faced by students. Through Project NEO, 2nd -8th grade students performing below grade level are carefully matched with trained high school and college-level tutors to develop these skills, rebuild their self-confidence, and increase their desire to learn.Young people striving for excellence in high school and college are in need of volunteer hours, service learning hours, and even part-time jobs. Through Project NEO, teenagers and young adults can fulfill their aspirations and requirements by tutoring at-risk youth. Project NEO, partnering with local high schools and colleges, identifies tutors and provides them with in-depth training that allows them to work with their younger counterparts by providing holistic support to address their individual academic needs, cultural differences, and language barriers.Through our community partnerships with California State University of Los Angeles (CSULA), East Los Angeles College (ELAC) and local high schools (Mark Keppel, San Gabriel, Don Bosco Technical Institute, and Ramona Conven

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 4.7%; rating input score 5
• Program expense ratio: 10.8%; rating input score 11

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 56.7%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
• Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -59.7% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 17% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -62.3% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings