The YMCA of Greater Nashua has partnered with national educational nonprofit BellXcel and the YMCA of the USA to implement Power Scholars Academy (PSA), a free-of-cost summer program that expands learning time to improve the academic achievements, self-confidence and life trajectories of elementary school students in Nashua, NH who are performing below grade level.

In the summer of 2018, the program began at Amherst Street Elementary, Fairgrounds Elementary and Nashua High School South. BELL-powered programs like PSA are designed to prevent summer learning loss, the greatest contributor to the achievement gap. In 2019, the program expanded to include over 400 Nashua community students from Grades 1-8 and continued to expand in 2022 and 2023.

This evidence-based summer program is a holistic summer learning experience that blends rigorous literacy and math instruction with hands-on enrichment, social emotional development, and community engagement.

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• Power Scholars Academy has partnered with the Career and Technical Education center at Nashua High School South to show that there are very different pathways to success. Students, this summer, completed the Kick Start program in cosmetology, culinary arts, woodworking, and more where the rising Freshmen earned a high school credit.

• The Nashua Community College (NCC) opened its doors for Power Scholars Academy students to interact with NCC professors to talk about their experiences in STEM, criminal justice, culinary arts and business careers, providing students with guidance for the future as professors and staff members volunteered their time in the classrooms.