Future Centers
Empowering Our Students
The core of Lynchburg Beacon of Hope’s programs are through the Future Centers, operated directly inside of Lynchburg City School high schools. These Future Centers are designed to serve as post-secondary access hubs, working in partnership with school counseling, administrators, the local economic development community, and local post-secondary providers to provide a seamless talent pipeline for Lynchburg’s young people.
The primary goal of Future Centers is to empower our students to remove the barriers that prevent them from pursuing what’s next. We work to increase Access, Affordability, Achievement, and Awareness for every student to go onto work or education after high school.
A Universal Approach
From resume building, to SAT prep, to job interview skill development, to academic tutoring, to FAFSA and financial aid completion, to scholarship support, college athletic eligibility and pursuit, to career inventories and finding students’ strengths, to connecting students with business and industry partners, the Future Centers provide support and advising services to a universal population of students and their families. Lynchburg Beacon of Hope equitably serves the entire student body with a universal approach by grade level and individual need.
The Future Centers operate during school hours and offer additional accessibility with extended evening and weekend hours to accommodate working families. More importantly, our Future Center Directors are accessible to students by phone, text, or appointment during nontraditional hours, virtually and in-person, evenings and weekends.
The Results
Since inception, the Future Centers, in partnership with Lynchburg City Schools and our local colleges, community college, and technical programs have significantly raised the percentage of LCS students who are:
Pursuing education and training after high school,
Accessing and applying funds that can support their educational pursuits,
Preparing for and achieving better results on post-secondary placement exams,
Engaging in experiential employer opportunities,
Honing soft skills which employers find lacking in entry-level employees,
Choosing community college and/or technical certification programs as a next step
In 2012, Lynchburg Beacon of Hope opened its two high school Future Centers in the Lynchburg City Schools high schools (EC Glass). At this time, 58% of the system’s graduates were going on to pursue college, community college, on-the-job training, or certification programs after graduation. In 2019, 85% of LCS graduates left high school pursuing a viable, articulated plan for education, certification, or employment–a 27% increase.
Our Support
Lynchburg Beacon of Hope’s high school Future Centers are 100% privately-funded; our partnership does not involve a public budget line-item, save the in-kind donation of space. But our satellite centers offer opportunities to fund Future Centers through 100% public funding or a hybrid mix of public-private funds.
