Deep Dive 3, that’s what they call it.

At first the phrase strikes the ear like some sort of rescue operation for a troubled submarine, or maybe a salvage operation for a long-submerged pirate ship, laden with booty.

Who knows but that at some point before last Thursday, the phrase may have struck King County Executive Dow Constantine’s ear in just that way.

But as Constantine learned very well touring the Auburn School District and various social service agencies last Thursday, Deep Dive 3 has a more prosaic meaning — it is in fact, the local term for a federal grant program that for the last 18 months has been providing boatloads of academic support for students struggling in school, and for the beleaguered parents of those students.

The Federal Race to the Top Program provides the funds, which it channels through the Puget Sound Educational Service District. In turn, the PSESD speeds the money to different entities in the South King County area so they can work together to improve academic achievement and support kids and families.

For example, Dick Scobee Elementary School.

Constantine stopped at the 60-year-old school and then Neighborhood House inside the Burndale Home complex a few blocks to the north of the school.

Neighborhood House, Auburn Youth Resources and United Way of King County are among the partners in the grant.

Colin Sexton, adult education and employment manager for Neighborhood House, told the curious Constantine that his organization offers after-school programs for about 80 living in the north-end neighborhood. But the organization provides family support and an after-school youth employment program, too.

“Our primary work with Deep Dive 3 is with the elementary school students, but we have middle school and high school teens too, every day after school, and more in the full-time programs during the summer,” Sexton said.

Thanks to the grant, Sexton said, Neighborhood House has been collaborating with Dick Scobee Principal Adam Couch and his team on curriculum. The grant, he said, has allowed staff at Neighborhood House to help kids with homework and with projects and to improve their English, which is critically important in a largely immigrant community.

Sexton said the grant has even helped pay for some part-time staff.

Auburn School District Superintendent Kip Herren told Constantine that one idea infiltrating the upper echelons of education today is that a school-based neighborhood model like Deep Dive 3 might be the best way to prevent later problems that could crop up in the lives of students and families.

Constantine zeroed in on the benefits of such a program.

“In particular for immigrant families — where a kid maybe has the most English in the household — engaging them in understanding what’s going on in their child’s life and what the opportunities are, is very interesting to me. I’d love to see how it works,” Constantine said.

Vicki Alonzo, public information officer for the Auburn School District, told Constantine that the grant has provided Dick Scobee, which has a large Marshallese population, to hire a Marshallese-speaking individual.

“This person goes into homes and helps kids and teaches parents how to engage with their kids. It will pay dividends down the road,” Alonzo said.