Shylo previously worked at Hydro One Networks progressing to Senior Manager, First Nations and Métis Relations. Prior joining McMaster, Shylo was a Senior Project Manager with the City of Hamilton and led the development of Hamilton’s first urban Indigenous strategy. She had worked previously at McMaster to develop and administer the university’s employment equity census. She was recently the Director of Indigenous Student Services at McMaster University and was responsible for leading a department that supports all aspects of the student experience and success of McMaster’s Indigenous. She is currently the Owner and Lead of Niibin Advisory Services, an Indigenous consulting firm specializing in policy development and community engagement. Shylo Elmayan has over 15 years of experience working in Indigenous community relations. To read about the background behind ABACUS, please click here. The Foundation has launched a call for proposals from community organizations for programming that works towards the goals of ABACUS for the 2022-23 school year, and continues its systems change initiatives with partners across the community and provincially. Research shows that academic success in Grade 9 is a strong predictor of high school completion and postsecondary access Where are we now? Students are adapting to a new environment – a larger group of classmates, more teachers and semestered learning.

Increasing support for the transition out of the middle-school years and into high school, including Grade 9 and the transition into Grade 10.Īnother critical period in a student’s academic journey is the transition into secondary school. In addition, the pandemic has adversely affected the overall health of students - and some student groups have been affected more than others. Research has also shown the need for reading acquisition and numeracy as a result of the pandemic is more pronounced in elementary students than in secondary students. whose parents did not attend post-secondary) and students who are newcomers, male, have special education needs, have disabilities, have disciplinary records or who are from low-income families.Įxpanding investment to include the transition period into the middle-school years (Grades 4 and 5), with a particular focus on addressing learning interruptions arising from the pandemic.Īn environmental scan of education-based programs in Hamilton revealed that very few programs are focused on older elementary children. This includes Indigenous, Black and racialized students Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ students students who are first-generation attenders (i.e. Watch a narrated slide show: ABACUS at the mid-way markīased on this evidence, the Foundation launched ABACUS Phase II in spring 2022, which further focuses our grants and systems change work with refinements that include:Ī deeper focus on student populations who face persistent and pervasive barriers in the education system and taking an intersectional approach to meeting their needs In particular, the evidence showed the need for an increased focus on the transition to high school, reading acquisition and numeracy in the earlier years, the importance of children’s overall social and emotional wellness to their academic achievement, and the critical importance of addressing the needs of students historically underserved in the education system. A comprehensive review conducted at the five-year mark provided insights for refinements that would enable ABACUS to best meet community needs. Through this work, the Foundation gained insight into Hamilton’s educational landscape.

Bringing partners together to identify and address systemic barriers to post-secondary education.

This program formally ended in 2019, and provided many lessons for the next phase of ABACUS

Grad Track, a three-year pilot using a learning coach to deliver intensive programming to a small group of students.

Grants to programs that expanded Hamilton’s capacity to provide supports during the middle-school years.

When it was launched in 2016, ABACUS had three components: ABACUS Phase II: Equity, wellness, academic achievement Part of what makes ABACUS unique is its focus on early intervention that gets students and their parents thinking about life after high school – during their pivotal middle school years, which are characterized by significant developmental changes. ABACUS, a collaborative initiative of Hamilton Community Foundation and The Fairmount Foundation, is a 10-year commitment to increasing the likelihood that young people who face multiple barriers, will graduate high school and access post-secondary by focusing on the pivotal middle school years and supporting the transition into high school.

Abacus technologies lake forest ca