8 Plus Learning Academies are deigned to meet the needs of students who have not met the New York City Promotional Standards at the end of the eight grade. The program can be seen as a "middle high school program," where eighth grade students will have an opportunity to meet the promotional standards, gain knowledge about high school requirement, earn high school credits in specified courses and participate in a standard-based programs that emphasizes literacy and numeracy. The purpose of the Eight Plus Program is to offer:

• additional options to eighth grade students who have not met the promotional criteria and who will need to be retained in the eighth grade
• intensive academic preparation and counseling services in a rigorous and nurturing environment
• rigorous work in the four core curriculum area, English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies, with an emphasis on literacy across all content areas
• diagnostic assessments to help develop an individual instructional plan for the students in the program
• attendance and pupil personnel support services to meet not only educational needs of the students, but their emotional and social needs as well
• a Family/Group/Advisory program to offer students an opportunity lean the skills and strategies that they need to be more strategic and self-regulated learners and practice social skills needed to be effective communicators and collaborators and to use the strategies to help them self-monitor and self-assess their progress
• forums for parent involvement, such as open houses, curriculum conferences, narrative reports to parents, parenting classes, demonstrations of student achievement and parent orientation
• opportunities for teachers,parents, and students to jointly develop and educational plan for student