EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT

SUPPORT

We understand that cancer can greatly impact your child’s education at any age. Cancer treatment can mean time out of school, a transition back to school, or effects from treatment that make learning more challenging. ASK provides educational support from preschool through high school graduation and the transition to adulthood. We are here to help make sure your child has the extra help they need.

Education Support Navigators

In 2022, the state legislature allocated state funds specifically to support childhood cancer for the first time. These funds allow ASK to provide an Education Support Navigator at each pediatric cancer treatment center in Virginia.

Our navigators help bridge the gap between the medical team and school team. They help patients and survivors stay on grade level, and receive the accommodations they need to be successful.

Find My Navigator

Education Support Navigators

Back-to-School Supplies

We passionately believe that every child deserves a strong start to the school year. We know that parents have a lot to juggle and the cost of school supplies adds up. We are happy to provide a backpack filled with school supplies to help start the school year off right.

Back to school is a great time to check in with your Education Support Navigator to make sure your IEP or 504 plan is up to date.

In-Person and Online Tutoring

In-Person Tutoring

In-person tutoring provides a certified teacher to help one-on-one with schoolwork. They’ll meet weekly with your child at a public space, like the library, to provide learning support in a way that your child will understand.

In-person tutoring is currently only available in Richmond and Fredericksburg.

Online Tutoring

Online tutoring is a great option if your child has an IEP and needs some extra help with their schoolwork, but it needs to be in your home and on your schedule.

ASK’s online tutoring program matches your child with a carefully chosen academic mentor from our partner, The Brain Bodega, to help with schoolwork and other study skills. They’ll meet online with your child up to twice a week to provide school support in a way that works for your child.

If your child receives treatment in Virginia, contact the Education Support Navigator at your hospital or clinic for more information.

Tutoring

First STEP Preschool

The First STEP (Socialization Through Enriched Play) preschool class is a special class at First Baptist Preschool just for our ASK families. Our teachers look for both typical developmental milestones as well as late effects from treatment to help our kids get the best start possible.

We take extra cleaning precautions to keep our kids healthy and safe. Our focus is to prepare students for a successful kindergarten experience with skills like sharing, listening, focusing, and cooperating.

First STEP Preschool

Graduation Ceremony

Graduating from high school is no small achievement, and we proudly honor our graduates each spring in an ASK graduation ceremony. Whether your ASK kid went through treatment when they were ten years old or are going through treatment during their senior year of high school, we want to celebrate them.

Family, friends, educators, and healthcare providers come together to celebrate this important milestone.

ASK Graduation

Young Adult Support

It’s not unusual for teens and young adults who have been through childhood cancer to feel different from other kids their age. Their experience may have changed them emotionally, academically, and socially.

They might not take the typical path of graduating from high school, going to college, and finding a career. Sometimes it’s easier for another adult to ask the questions that help guide them forward into adulthood.

Michelle Jarnagin-Johnson, ASK Young Adult Support Coordinator, will talk with your teen or young adult to see where they are in their journey, what their goals are, and what they might need to achieve them. She can assist and connect them with: