What is Rodney Street Tennis & Tutoring Association (RSTTA)?
Founded in 1979, the Rodney Street Tennis & Tutoring Association, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization operating in Wilmington and New Castle County, DE, provides year-round tennis and academic instruction for at-risk inner-city boys and girls to reach their full potential on and off the tennis court. The lessons learned from this program go far beyond tennis. RSTTA combines academics, athletics, nutrition, and civic responsibility to encourage the development of a child from a holistic perspective.
Why We Do It
RSTTA takes dead aim on the need for more quality out-of-school programs for our inner-city youth.
The organization partners with the School District and the Department of Recreation to provide structured recreational and supplemental educational programming for boys and girls during the hours when they need it the most. It is during the out-of-school hours when inner-city children would otherwise have little or no adult supervision and are most vulnerable to undesirable activities. Steady increases in drop-out rates, delinquency and juvenile crime in virtually every Wilmington neighborhood underscore this urgency.
Our Commitment
- To develop physical skills and enhanced levels of fitness among our participants
- Advance the physical, social and emotional well-being of our participants through partnerships with other leading non-profits, educational institutions and social service providers
- To bring academic support coupled with a nationally acclaimed life skills curriculum to those who would not otherwise have such opportunities
What Services Do We Provide
RSTTA currently provides the following year round programming:
The Flagship Summer Program is an 8-week outdoor tennis program coupled with an extended academic piece: RSTTA read-a-thon and tutoring.
The Family Focus Tutoring Program offers year-round tutoring for boys and girls first grade through college. The program runs Monday through Thursday, from 4:00 to 8:00 pm. The program works closely with the families, schools, teachers and counselors of its participants. Establishing such relationships helps the program to focus on the best interest of the students in their academic pursuits.
Work with each child is based on individual needs. Each participant has a documentation folder that contains: the student's registration packet; their K-TEA (Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement) assessment results from their initial admission into the program; individual teacher comments; report cards; and tutor comments after each session. An individual lesson plan is created for each student. This plan is a collaborative effort, decided upon through geedback from interviews conducted by tthe Tutoring Director; a student's academic reports from schools; and family comments. At the conclusion of each marking period, report cards are collected and reviewed in order ot update individual goals based on a student's progress.
This program is the umbrella for additional services that RSTTA provides:
- The GED Prep Program to help those that did not succeed in High School get a diploma.
- The SAT Prep Program to help prepare students to take the SAT’s.
- The Brandywine Project partnering with the School District to identify students that are in jeopardy of not graduating on-time. Students are granted permission to earn extra credits by attending tutoring sessions at RSTTA.
- The Anger Management Program focuses on referrals from juvenile probation, young men and women are court ordered to complete the course as a poart of their probation. This is a youth rehab service.
- The Ambassador Tennis Program, after-school tennis and tutoring program combines healthy recreational activities with homework help.
- The Winter Tennis Program, 20-week indoor tennis program.
- The Spring Tennis League promotes friendly competition among participants.
For enrollment contact Harry Shur.