Our Mission: ThorpeWood’s mission is to improve the lives of at-risk youth through long-term academic support, personal development, life skills, and vocational training programs in partnership with their schools, after-school programs, and youth organizations.

How does ThorpeWood improve the lives of at-risk youth?

ThorpeWood is a unique Maryland-based resource that offers our regional school and youth organization partners customized programs addressing the specific needs of each at-risk student group. Our students achieve positive results through our programs that focus on:   Academic Support – we provide remediation to bring academic skills up to grade level Personal Development – we teach personal growth skills such as goal setting, empathy development, and healthy self-reliance Life Skills – we guide the correction of destructive survival strategies including those related to problem solving, decision-making, and exercise of power and leadership Vocational Training – we help transition students from school to careers by teaching employable skills and allowing them to work under the guidance of experienced craftsmen and potential employers

Our education staff works closely with our partners’ staff to create individually designed programs that incorporate the following criteria:

Long-term (2-4 year) commitment with the same students Customized curricula addressing the partners’ goals for students’ academic, personal, and social growth Small student groups (generally 10-12) and small ratios of students to instructors Repeated program visits to ThorpeWood’s 155-acre campus and instruction at the students’ school s or youth organizations Outcome-based program assessment and on-going measurement of student progress

• ThorpeWood's At-Risk Youth Partnerships