AST Shine is a program that provides additional academic support outside of the classroom to students who are from low-income families and/or are part of the ESOL program. It was funded by a grant from the Howard County government and state government since its foundation in the 2017-18 school year and was run in partnership with HCPSS schools. The program is guided by professional educators who not only train instructors on how to better instruct ESOL and low income students but also develop the curriculum for the program.

 

Although the pandemic has completely changed the educational landscape, AST Shine continued to serve our community by offering innovative virtual instructions.  It received the 2020 Governor's Service Award.

 

It returned to in-person instruction after the schools were reopened in the 2021-22 school year. Pandemic caused huge learning loss especially to the disadvantaged students. AST Shine intends to continue to support these students to recover the loss and achieve their academic success.