Beechmont Presbyterian opened the La Escuelita Learning Hub in January 2021 to assist JCPS students who were learning remotely as part of the district's NTI. We partnered with Rev. Elmer Zavala and the Presbyterian Hispanic Latino Ministry of Preston Highway and identified 10 students whose primary language is Spanish, many of whom came to our city via caravan from Honduras. These students had gone for 7-8 months without formal education due to the pandemic and had been falling behind due to language and other barriers, so this was viewed as an “essential service” during the pandemic. We were able to continue this full-time ministry through the summer of 2021, serving 18 students as a site of JCPS' Backpack League which provided academic support for these students as well as social-emotional support. 
 
As another school year approached, at the families’ request, we continued our ministry to closely walk alongside these families as they navigated school in Louisville amidst the ongoing pandemic and while coping with traumas endured in their home countries and in the caravans. Many of the families had arrived in Louisville less than a year before the pandemic hit so they were still learning a new culture. In October 2021 we transformed the La Escuelita Learning Hub into an after-school and family support program. La Escuelita provides homework help, enrichment activities, ESL support and therapy for over 30 children, case management for families connecting them with educational, health and social services.