Weeknights and Saturdays at the Chester Children’s Chorus are busy, joyful and intense. Children are rehearsing with John and Sean, enjoying snack and dinner breaks, and crossing Park Avenue to the CCC offices to practice math. Chorus members commit to preparing for exceptional concert performances. This academic year, 21 middle and high school students have chosen to make an additional commitment; to meet with a Math Coach twice a week in order to strengthen their understanding of mathematical concepts, improve their grades, and prepare for assess- ments like the SAT.

The energy of a busy math practice session is absolutely exhilarating. The children are talking, and laughing with their one-on-one coaches; they have gotten to know each other over the course of the year. Coaches take own- ership of teaching so that their students build confidence, learn content, work hard, and have fun. And the children are learning.
Each student has focused goals, each coach
is delivering targeted instruction, and ongoing assessment highlights the children’s accom- plishments and guides further instruction.

The Math Practice Program responds to the CCC mission to support chorus members’ academic achievement, and the program is just getting started. This summer, as part of their summer learning experience, Training Chorus members will dive right into Math, and individual coaching will continue into the 2019–2020 school year.