Organization Description and Mission

Founded in 1984 with the goal of helping area children graduate from high school, the Martin House Learning Center now offers preschool, high school equivalency (GED), after-school tutoring, literacy classes, ESL, youth programs, and enrichment for Trenton residents of all ages. The Learning Center is housed in a 28,000 square-foot facility that contains classrooms, a reception room, a full-size basketball court, a gym, and administrative offices. The life of the spacious facility is in its programs, which include:

Pre-School Program: This program provides children aged 2 1/2-5 with a safe child care service in a loving and educational setting.

Safe Haven Program (K-5): The goal of the pre-teen safe haven program is to increase students' homework study skills and improve academic performance, as well as increase the completion rate of day-to-day homework assignments.

Power of Choice (POC) (8-12): This program provides pre-teen males with a safe space in which to discuss safe and healthy life choices.

Summer Day Camp (6-12): Camp activities are planned according to age, interest, and capabilities to enhance children educationally, physically, spiritually, socially, and emotionally.

Students Together Achieving Real Success (STARS) (15-17): Throughout the school year, this team of students plans and participates in community service projects such as tutoring, inter-generational programs, and open forums on violence reduction.

Teen Academic Achievement Program: The goal of the teen academic achievement program is to enhance student's skills in math, English, and science, as well as to improve study skills and academic performance. Some students are also tutored for the High School Proficiency Test (HSPT).

Community and Population Served

The Martin House Learning Center programs serve Trenton residents of all ages. The Center primarily works with residents of Wilbur, where Martin House is located in East Trenton.


Research Questions

• President Bush is considering cutting funding from some program areas. One program is the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). With grant cutbacks, there would be less money and fewer services. How will inner-city programs in Trenton be affected? What will be the impact on these programs in inner-city Trenton? What will be done about these cutbacks? A student will look at what sorts of services CDBG grants have funded in Trenton in the past in order to assess the impact of program budget cuts.

• What factors are responsible for Trenton High School's 50% drop-out rate? How can Trenton High School better engage its students and retain them through graduation?

• Many students go through the public school system in Trenton on the basis not of academic merit but rather of “social promotion.” For example, some teachers think a failing student would be better off moving up to the next grade with his or her peers than spending another year with younger classmates in the failed grade. What are the effects of the Trenton School District's policy of "social promotion" on student preparation for middle school? How do socially-promoted students perform in middle school? Does the Learning Center summer enrichment program, which targets socially-promoted students entering middle school, affect the achievement level of participants?

• The Abbott vs. Burke decision requires Abbott districts to open public preschools for three and four-year olds. As school systems incorporate preschools into public schools, resources will be drained from community-based organizations that offer preschool programs, such as Martin House Learning Center. Though Trenton area schools planned to open preschools by 2005, facility expansion efforts may prolong the need for community-based preschool programs. How long do community-based organizations with preschool programs have to prepare for funding cuts? How many 4 year olds and how many 3 year olds are currently in public schools, and how many are in community-based organizations?

• The Learning Center is considering expanding its Preschool Program to include children aged 0-2 1/2. What adjustments would such an addition entail (staff, use of space, infrastructure, etc.)? Students could look at other sites and programs as examples to help the Martin House Learning Center learn about the curriculum, facilities, staff, and other aspects of comparable programs. Is it practical to expand in the face of the Abbott vs. Burke decision?

• What are the needs and concerns of middle school-aged youth? These teenagers are in a crucial stage of their lives and are making social and academic decisions that will determine the track they pursue in high school. Martin House Learning Center has trouble enrolling middle and high school students in its academic/tutoring sessions. How can Martin House make its Teen Academic Achievement Program more attractive to middle and high school students and more effective for them?

• The Martin House Learning Center is interested in assessing the attrition and displacement of their students. How does this instability in housing affect the educational outcomes of students?

• The Learning Center is a site for the Board of Education's Daylight/Twilight Program, which allows young adults and adults who have left the academic setting to work towards a high school diploma in a community setting. Because this program runs for a half-day rather than a full-day, the Learning Center is concerned that it may create an incentive for students to drop out of the conventional school setting.  Does the program encourage teens to drop out of high school and go to school in this half-day program, or is the program actually serving the intended population of people who have already dropped out of high school who would not otherwise complete a diploma? What are the overall effects of the program?
• Although American cities spend billions of dollars to rehabilitate the incarcerated, few newly freed inmates can acquire work to use the skills they have been taught.  What is the government doing to deal with this situation?  Why has the government spent so much on rehabilitation while also enacting policies that make job-hunting difficult for ex-offenders?  What interest does the highly lucrative prison industry have in maintaining a status quo?
• The Martin House Learning Center has circumstantial evidence that children are being sent to juvenile detention centers at very young ages.  How has this trend changed over the years?  How many youth detention centers exist throughout the country?  How many teens and young children are in these centers?  How many group homes are there? 


• The Martin House Learning Center is interested to know the stories of ex-convicts who have successfully managed government policies and excelled in their reentry into society.  How did they achieve success?  Which companies in the Mercer County district hire ex-offenders?  What kind of jobs do these companies offer ex-offenders?  How high have ex-offenders been promoted?  Martin House Learning Center provides a list of companies that will hire people with a criminal background in Middlesex County.  Has this list of companies helped ex-offenders to find work?

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