Wake Forest Freedom School helps Forsyth schoolchildren maintain learning levels through summer months

HIGHLIGHTS

Freedom School at Wake Forest runs through July 29.
Media are invited to cover a Harambee session, which starts daily at 8:30 a.m., or other program event.
Contact Alicia Roberts at for a schedule of activities and location information.

For six weeks every summer, mornings at Wake Forest University’s Carswell Hall resonate with singing, cheers and reading aloud as dozens of Forsyth County students start their day at Freedom School.

They call the daily morning meetings Harambee, a Swahili word that means “come together.” At this gathering, this year’s group of 60 Freedom School scholars set the tone for the day and listen to a story from a guest reader, who answers questions about their career and how it impacts the world around them.

The experience has drawn a waiting list every year since Wake Forest launched its Freedom School in 2017.

“The families love its high-quality instructional program and that it’s on this campus,” said Dani Parker Moore, executive director of the program. “Having your child on a college campus changes their mindset for the future.”

Scholars change the world

A program developed by the Children’s Defense Fund, Freedom Schools aim to show young scholars that they can make a difference in themselves as well as their families, community and the world through hope, education and actions.

The youngest Freedom School scholars at Wake Forest have completed kindergarten, and the oldest have just finished eighth grade.

College students lead the Freedom School classrooms as “servant leader interns.” They teach a reading-rich, integrated curriculum to get their young learners devouring books as well as thinking about making a difference in the community.

Research affirms Freedom Schools’ approach

The approach works, said Parker Moore, an assistant professor in Wake Forest’s education department. In 2023, Wake Forest received a $400,000 Spencer Research-Practice Based Partnership Grant to study the program’s effectiveness.

After the first year, the research showed that Freedom School students maintained their reading levels through the summer. That meant they didn’t have to re-learn concepts when they returned to school in the fall.

But Parker Moore said the program changes the college students, too. A Freedom School servant leader intern herself in 2013, she said she has seen many students decide to go into the education field after working with the program.

Funding from Ray and Lynn Clarke and collaborators at The Center for Literacy Education, The Office of Civic & Community Engagement, Office of the President, and Office of the Provost support Wake Forest’s Freedom School.