The post-pandemic return to school posed many challenges for educational leaders. Administrative teams had to come up with plans to close achievement gaps created by an extended period of remote learning. One suburban New Jersey high school identified at-risk students and created an Academic Mentoring Support (AMS) program as an intervention. Once students were identified by their mathematics grades, they were placed in the Academic Mentoring Support classes as part of their regular academic schedule. This study conducted research to determine the program’s level of efficacy. Student success was measured using two qualitative methods to determine if the students across six AMS classes increased their overall achievement upon receiving additional supports in the areas of social emotional learning, executive function skills, and math reinforcement. Teachers (n=6) who facilitated the AMS intervention program’s classes were interviewed regarding their perceptions of academic achievement among students engaged in this support program in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the research found that teachers perceived AMS classes as helpful in closing post-pandemic achievement gaps for at-risk students. Through qualitative methods, phenomenology, and the constant comparative method, common themes emerged among teacher responses to support this theory with evidence from first-hand experiences.

Keywords: Academic mentoring support, social emotional learning, executive function skills, at-risk, ARP-ESSER