OUR’s Initiative for College Academics Now challenges our students to embrace the mantra that “I Can”. ICAN is our college/career preparatory program and is the first phase of our three-part post-secondary initiative aimed at keeping at-risk high school students on the path to graduation and post-secondary fulfillment. ICAN focuses on academic achievement and social-emotional learning while providing educational reinforcement/intervention and supplementary support services to students that helps to ensure both their secondary persistence and overall college and career readiness.

The goal of our initiative is to make academic achievement a priority amongst our at-risk students by raising the mindset and standard of academic completion from K-12 (kindergarten through twelfth) to kindergarten through Associate Degree or other alternative post-secondary certification. In order to accomplish this goal, ICAN consistently challenges students to not only meet, but exceed their academic potential by providing continuous educational level assessments, course remediation, and subject specific tutoring. Students successfully completing phase one are bridged to phase three and receive follow-up support throughout their post-secondary pathway. Other key program benefits include but are not limited to mentorship, standardized test preparation (i.e., ACT, SAT, ACT Work Keys, and Accuplacer), college credit procurement, civic engagement, and STEM-Education exposure.

OUR Prep is our post-graduate program and the second of three phases that comprise our organization’s post-secondary initiative. It is aimed at preparing students interested in attending college in the year immediately following their  high school graduation but want or need another year to develop and ready themselves for post-secondary education. In what is sometimes referred to as a “gap year”, students are afforded time to focus on their individual needs as it relates to academics, career fields, social-emotional learning, and overall personal development to ensure their success at the collegiate level. Ohio Urban Renaissance provides students with the access to a combination of nationally accredited and transferable college credits; STEM-Education and Information Technology certifications; and workforce development or job readiness skills. Our approach to education reinforcement and supplementary support efforts are intensified and expanded upon through our hybrid learning model that combines online coursework with on-site assistance and resources to help students throughout our program. O.U.R. Prep Academy offers three educational pathways for students to choose from that best meets their individual needs and advocates their success. Upon completion of phase two, students are bridged to phase three and receive follow-up support throughout their post-secondary pathway.

WIN/WIN is our college and career pathway assistance program and the last phase of our three-part post-secondary initiative. It is aimed at serving our late adolescent and young adult students enrolled in either traditional or non-traditional forms of post-secondary education, by keeping them on the right path to program completion. Participants starting at this phase of the initiative will be assessed and helped to identify the post-secondary pathway that best reflects their individual strengths, interests, and capabilities. WIN focuses on maintaining open lines of communication between our students and mentorship support staff that enables us to continue offering the necessary support to students for the duration of their program’s degree, certification, or licensure.
The primary goal of WIN/WIN is post-secondary program fulfillment. By building independent relationships with our students, we can design a supplementary support system that is responsive to each student’s academic, personal, and social-emotional development while navigating through their program. Our ability to establish and maintain these relationships has shown to be critical to the success of our student’s completion of their respective programs or entry into a career field. Through constant interaction we can monitor our students’ individual progress as well as facilitate direct connections to valuable information, resources, and opportunities that aid them in their success.