The Wooden Floor

Family Services

To address the hardships low-income families face, our Family Services program takes a case management approach to counseling, crisis intervention and referral to additional social services to resolve issues that affect the well-being of our students. Our individualized, case-management approach distinguishes us from other agencies that are primarily drop-in centers serving specific short-term needs. Our model forms community, provides a trusted safety net and second home for its students. As a result of this long-term commitment, we have close relationships with the entire family, not just the child, and we provide a holistic blend of services through educational workshops and individual counseling and access to referrals to address all the challenges each family faces that may impact the child’s progress.

Dance Education and Performance

We use dance as a vehicle for transformation in the students we serve because there is so much learning involved. We offer 64 dance classes per week on-site and via virtual platforms, 1-1.5 hours per class, 32 weeks per year. Our 10-level curriculum, built on a comprehensive platform, is delivered as follows: Ballet and Modern integrated with Somatic movement principles; and Dance-making, which includes Improvisation, Choreography and collaborations with leading guest choreographers. Our approach to dance engages students in inventive participation, in acts of artistic creation that are original and idiosyncratic. We uniquely bring this population together with international, leading choreographers to develop contemporary dance works that reflect our students’ cultural identity and interests. The resulting new dance works co-created with our young artists challenge audience assumptions about who participates in this form of art-making and helps break down ethnic, gender and age stereotypes that negatively affect our youth.

Academic, College & Career Readiness Program

To bridge achievement gap and access to higher education, our Academic, College and Career Readiness Program ensures students have the support and skills needed to obtain grade-level proficiency in math and reading, and graduate high school on time prepared to succeed in college. We group our students into their 10 graduating classes to offer sequential programming for students and parents that increase academic achievement and access to higher education, facilitate the transition to post-secondary education and raise expectations about success after college. Services include: Year-round Individualized Tutoring and Fundamental Learning Skills Workshops in language arts, math and science; Summer Reading, Math and Science Workshops; Computer lab and resource library in The Wooden Floor Hutton Education Center; College preparatory workshops and individualized guidance, grades 7-12; Career Nights; Merit-based College Scholarships; mentoring and supplemental financial aid for college