Meet Guardian Watch of Florida Board
Return children to society well-equipped with the strategies to succeed; combined with the belief and experience that they can and they will.
Richard Yi
Richard Yi is a founding partner and the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Guardian Watch, while also serving as the Owner and Director of A+ Learning Solution. A veteran educator with over 21 years of experience.
He holds a Master of Science in Information Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, and is professionally certified in Elementary Education (K-6) and Computer Science (K-12).
At Guardian Watch, Richard is instrumental in fostering partnerships with community organizations throughout Miami-Dade County to provide a wide range of support services. Through these alliances, the organization works with a diverse population of youth, including elite athletes, homeschooled students, and at-risk youth within the Florida DCF foster care program.
His work with A+ Learning Solution, a community fixture for over 26 years, further demonstrates his commitment to personalized instruction.
Across all his endeavors, Richard’s goal remains to build student self-esteem and foster the active engagement necessary for every child to succeed.
Paul A. Marino
Executive Director
Miami Lakes resident, businessman, and college professor founded Guardian Watch, a 501c3 in May of 2013. It was the direct result of his being asked by a friend who was a Guardian Ad Litem to develop an educational program for two of his court-appointed charges who were at- risk of dropping out of the public school system due to poor grades. The
success of that project led to the formation of Guardian Watch and its Managed Education Program.
Professor Marino, along with state-certified educators of various specialties and child psychologists, developed a data-driven program specifically designed to address the needs of at-risk youth who are in danger of dropping out of the traditional educational system. His vision is to address this need for any student free of change regardless of background, social status, race, gender, or orientation. The goal of the program is to develop lifelong learners.
Guardian Watch’s Managed Education Program is an open-source platform ready to assist any community organization working to provide a positive impact on our community. We strive towards assisting local and national
social agencies to the population we serve.
Jose Lopez
Board Member
In 1972, Jose Lopez began working in the Office Equipment Industry for Copy Statics, a manufacturer located in Miami Lakes, Florida. Throughout his tenure there he received many promotions and eventually took the position of Parts Manager. In 1981, the division was acquired by TRW Customer Service Division, based in New Jersey. In 1983, rather than relocating to New Jersey, he took a leap of faith and decided to open his own company of which he named Barlop Business Systems. The name is a portmanteau from Barroso (Bar) and Lopez (Lop).
Barlop began in a small 600 square foot office in Hialeah Gardens, grew to a larger 2,000 square foot office a couple of years later and by the early 90’s we moved into our long time warehouse facility of over 8,000 square feet. In October 2014, Barlop moved once again thanks to substantial growth to a brand new 15,000 square feet location in Doral, Florida. Today Barlop has grown from a two person operation to a thirty-three employee organization.
As an authorized dealer for several manufacturers, including Ricoh, Samsung and Okidata, Barlop is responsible for the sales, service and distribution of these office equipment products in the South Florida Region from Palm Beach to Monroe County. In addition, in 2016 our growth has allowed him to venture into the Managed Services Market through the affiliated entity Barlop Technology Solutions.
What we do.
All programming provided by Guardian Watch is vetted by our Board of Directors comprised of highly recognized individuals in the fields of education, business, psychology, sociology and child welfare.
The stakeholders we serve, including judges, guardians ad litem, foster parents, relative caregivers, social agencies, the school district, and our grant funders, are provided with data and anecdotal records supporting each student’s progress in both the academic and affective domains.
Transportation is also provided to qualifying students on an individual basis, to and from the program.
Academic Focus
Academiclly, students are supported in two broad areas. The first, is the current academic demands of their school setting. Students are guided to organize the demands of that setting, gain cognizance of the importance of organization to meet the demands and are assisted in a 1:5 ratio to successfully meet assignment submission due dates and successful completion and understanding of assignments their assignments.
Academic Improvement
The second area is the foundational skills which are recognized as deficiencies the student brings to the our setting. These may be foundational skills in reading or mathematics, which the student may have not mastered previously in school and now render the student functioning below grade level. These deficiencies are ones we uncover through a baseline assessment each student completes when they enter the program.
Foundational Skills
Character Development and Social/Emotional Focus
Sustainable Lives
Apart from the deliberate academic focus on each student’s Individual Educational Plan, this program also focuses on the development of resilience, moral reasoning, decision making, work readiness and critical life skills that will render our students capable of pursuing sustainable and independent lives.
Emotional Health
All of the interventions used in MEP are framed by evidence based, research based programming, which involve not only strengthening of academic skills, but also growth in the area of social responsibility and emotional health.
Empowerment
Students engage in activities of a self reflective nature that take them from recognizing the significant life events that have brought to where they presently are, to a series of activities that afford them mastering their lives with the goal of gaining the type of empowerment that comes from helping others.
Guardian Watch of Florida Program Highlights:
Above 80% participation rate.
01
Approximately 90% pass rate for all courses participants were enrolled in
02
Average increase in grade point average was around .77 (almost one full letter grade)
03
100% gang dissuasion reported
04
Each child is provided a nutritious meal at each session.
05
Each student has an Individual Education Plan developed exclusively for them
06
Baseline and On-Going Assessments
Upon entering the program students complete an online self-adaptive assessment in the areas of reading and mathematics. The assessment yields reports which provide grade level performance data within each content area, highlighting areas of strength as well as specific deficiencies and examples of activities suggested for remediation.
Results are generated in both graphic data tables as well as narratives made available to the student’s teacher(s) at school as well as a report specifically for the parent or caregiver. These reports serve as the basis for communication between those able to support the student and his/her progress. Assessments are repeated periodically to gauge student progress and warranted adjustments to a student’s Individual Education Plan
Each student has an Individual Education Plan developed exclusively for them with both academic and affective goals that the student and teacher develop together. After each session the teacher creates a short narrative illustrating the accomplishments and challenges of the session with reference to the next session and perceived student needs.
Individual Education Plans
The establishment of communication inherent in the design of our program, positions Guardian Watch advocate for the well-being of students. Parents and caregivers are provided the opportunity of designating Guardian Watch as an educational surrogate for their child by completing the appropriate forms required by the school district.
Guardian Watch Of Florida also supports parents/caregivers by accompanying them and/or guiding them in the event of a parent/teacher conference. Parents are guided to understand the positive ways of navigating through the school system and the most appropriate ways to work together with school teachers and court personnel in support of their child.