About Horizons Atlanta

Horizons Atlanta works in partnership with Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School, Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church, Fulton County Schools, and other local partners to influence the trajectory of economically disadvantaged children in Sandy Springs by providing a high-quality enrichment program.

Horizons is an award-winning national network of transformational, community-centered education programs offering economically disadvantaged children an exciting learning environment outside of the traditional school year on private school and university campuses across the country.

In 1999, Holy Innocents' Episcopal Church and Holy Innocents' Episcopal School formed a partnership to bring the Horizons program to Atlanta with the goal of providing meaningful academic and recreational programs to young students whose families would otherwise not be able to afford them. Now the flagship HIES site partners with Horizons sites on the campuses of Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Kennesaw State, Woodward Academy, Clark Atlanta University, and Atlanta Technical College.

Why Horizons?

The private-public partnership believes that every child in Atlanta, regardless of background, should have the same chance at making a positive impact on his or her community.  Horizons provides this opportunity by eliminating the critical barriers to success that many of our children face, thus putting them on a path to:

• Read proficiently by the end of third grade
• Graduate from high school
• Receive higher education and
• Become globally competitive professionals

To reach this goal, the program tackles the “summer slide,” which, according to a recent study by the RAND Corporation, can result in the average elementary-aged student experiencing less than a month’s worth of learning loss, while the decline is far greater for lower-income students (view a synopsis). The study concluded that summer learning loss is cumulative and that, by the time lower-income students reach third grade, they are often two school years behind in critical reading skills because of missed opportunities during the summer months.

On average, Horizons students improve and grow in their reading and math skills as a result of the program. Teachers and administrators report that when Horizons students return to school each fall, they are more motivated academically, more eager to learn, and more likely to become school leaders.

If you have questions or are interested in volunteering, please contact our Horizons site director.