Our Story

In 1970, a Kirkwood resident named Bill Jones had a vision. Mr. Jones saw a community of kids who were struggling during the school year, and had limited or no access to summer activities for learning and personal growth. Mr. Jones responded to that need by founding Sprog, a community-based organization that offered kids focused educational instruction and enrichment activities to support them, both academically and socially. Sprog was founded on a simple idea: positive activities outside of school help young people become the best version of themselves. From its founding, Sprog understood the vital connection between valuable summer experiences and success in school.

More than 55 years later, Sprog has evolved to become Horizons St. Louis in Kirkwood, and we continue to fulfill Mr. Jones’ vision. As a member of the Horizons Board of Directors, I am proud to serve this organization.

Your donation on Horizons Giving Day will support our one-of-a-kind summer experience for over 120 students from Kindergarten through 8th grade.

All students flourish in high-quality, enriching learning environments, but many children, even in the Kirkwood school community, do not have the same access to out-of-school learning and enrichment opportunities as their peers. Horizons offers extra support, attention and enrichment opportunities so that they can learn and thrive.  

That’s where Horizons comes in.

We support Horizons because Horizons works. Horizons is about learning by doing, whether students are tackling engineering projects in a classroom, taking a field trip to one of our many community partners, or learning to swim from qualified instructors. The Horizons program is staffed by outstanding educators from throughout the St. Louis area. During the course of Horizons’ summer program, students gain an average of 4-12 weeks of grade equivalence in reading and math skills. After completing the Horizons swim program, students achieve the basics of swim safety, with most students swimming in deep water. New skills learned at Horizons translate into school-year confidence, positive attitudes and student success.

We are inviting you to join the nationwide Horizons Giving Day movement.