Changing lives by educating and empowering young people, one life at a time.
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Current Facility and Programs
KLD has expanded from its original facility to its current location in the Avenue Worship Center on the campus of East Coast Christian Center, operating in 6300 square feet. With the help of committed volunteers and staff, community donations, and fundraising events, our new facility provides the following:
1. Learning Center
Our private school, KLD Learning Center, is open to both at-risk and high-achieving students in grades K-12. Its focus is on challenged learners--those children with specific learning disabilities or those who cannot perform to their fullest potential in the customary public-school setting. Our at-risk children come with various disadvantages, including learning disabilities; Down Syndrome; arrest records; intense emotional trauma, severe medical issues (involving parents or the children themselves); and broken, impoverished, or transient homes. They are children who are often left behind educationally or socially. In our school, they have the opportunity to learn in individualized, small teaching environments and to participate in structured outside-of-school programs. Offering real-world learning and the enrichment and stimulation necessary to develop intellect, creativity, academic achievement, and social skills, KLD Learning Center helps all of our students prepare for purposeful lives and reach their fullest potential. The school is also open to the public for exceptional education, tutoring, and mentoring in the outside-of-school hours.
Opening in 2006 with 20 students, today our enrollment is near 100 students. Our teaching staff has grown to 10 teachers. KLD Learning Center is supported by special state funds for children with learning disabilities (McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program), corporate grants, and private donations.
2. Social Center
Our social center provides an outside-of-school safe-place for adolescents to gather and learn positive decision-making. On weekend nights, it also provides entertainment for junior-high and high-school students. Currently, our social center is the main component of social life for approximately 150 youths. A vibrant place for small-group socializing, the center allows members “to hang-out,” participate in Bible study, or pursue other interests. Whatever the motivation, the center is designed to inspire friendships as well as faith, in an atmosphere that fosters safe alternatives to unsupervised outside-of-school hours. The following programs are offered:
• Tutoring Services (including FCAT, GED, and SAT preparation)
• Homework Assistance and Study Peer Groups
• Mentoring and Counseling Services
• Job and Leadership Training
• Life Management Courses
• Teen Crisis Intervention
• Abstinence and Sex Awareness
• Substance Abuse Counseling
• Teen Nights
• Positive Entertainment
The center’s programs are designed to promote positive youth development by providing: physical and psychological safety, free from violence, abuse, and unhealthy conditions; clear, consistent structure and appropriate adult supervision, with youth involved in developing rules and expectations; caring, supportive relationships with adults; opportunities to belong; positive social and ethical behavior; opportunities to provide service to others; opportunities to build cognitive, physical, psychological, social, and cultural skills; and enhanced communication between families and teachers.
3. Outreach Project
Through community service and monthly mission trips to the Bahamas, our youth learn the joy and rewards of helping others. Teens are given the opportunity to join small groups to do humanitarian work in our own community, as well as in impoverished areas of the Bahamas. By doing projects such as minor home repairs and painting, or sewing clothes for school children, our young people learn that they can directly affect their community and the world.
4. Child Care
More Info coming soon. Call 321.454.7333 for details.
