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Meeting Date:
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2/11/2022 - 7:00 PM
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Category:
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School and Community Relations
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Type:
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Info
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Subject:
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ACPS Out of School Time Program Update
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ACPS 2025 Strategic Plan Goal:
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Goal 1: Systemic Alignment ACPS will build a culture of continuous improvement and design equitable systems for school and instructional improvement. Goal 2: Instructional Excellence ACPS will ensure that all students have access to and engagement with high-quality instruction. Goal 3: Student Accessibility and Support ACPS will ensure students have equitable access to and engagement with programs and supports that reduce barriers to learning. Goal 4: Strategic Resource Allocation ACPS will strategically provide differentiated resources and supports to schools and departments. Goal 5: Family and Community Engagement ACPS will ensure that all families and community members feel welcomed, respected, and valued.
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Funding Source or Fiscal Impact (where applicable)
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File Attachment:
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Agenda Item Summary:
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In 2017, ACPS was awarded the U.S. Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Center Grant to support out of school time programming. Through this grant funding, the Office of Community Partnerships and Engagement created LINK Club (Linking Instruction, Nurturing Knowledge). This after school program is designed to provide high-quality after-school services with an emphasis on academic support, enrichment, social-emotional support and family engagement to high-need students and their families. Programs operate every day Monday-Friday from 3:00-6:00 p.m. at no cost to the families. See attachment, “ACPS Out of School Time LINK Club Support Components” for a detailed list of support components included as part of the programming.
In 2019, ACPS was awarded an additional four 21st CCLC grants. An amazing achievement as only 28 were awarded to the entire state of Virginia. The LINK Club current sites are found in the attachment “ACPS Out of School Time LINK Club Sites.” To date, all LINK Club programs continue to be funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) Grants and additional funding support provided by smaller foundational grants; and have been made possible through collaboration with community partners that contribute in-kind facilities, staffing and other wrap-around services that significantly leverage the VDOE grant funds. ACPS committed to the sustainability of 21st CCLC grant programs upon acceptance of the grant awards from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) in its initial year. The sustainability plan expectations as determined by VDOE includes absorbing 20% of the overall program costs in year four of the program and up to 40% by year six and beyond. As long as ACPS meets all grant requirements, VDOE will continue to fund 80% of the grant award in year four and 60% in year six and beyond.
In response to the success that the LINK Club has been recognized for and in alignment with the ACPS Strategic Plan and announced budget priorities, the Office of Community Partnerships and Engagement applied and received additional ESSER funding to support the expansion of the LINK club services across the next three years in collaboration with the school administration and the City of Alexandria DRPCA. Those sites are listed in the attachment, “ACPS Out of School Time LINK Club Sites.” The new programs are designed to leverage the school’s existing Extended Learning (ELO) and Title I funding and made possible through our strong partnership with the Alexandria Department of Recreation (DRPCA). DRPCA will provide facilities and staff for wrap-around programming, ELO funds will provide teachers with integrated academic remediation/intervention and Title I funds will be considered to cover additional academic enrichment opportunities. In addition, the ESSER funding is also being utilized to develop “Change Maker” curriculum aligning with the Project GLAD and AVID models for academic out of school time support and the RULER curriculum for social-emotional supports. RULER aims to infuse the principles of emotional intelligence into the immune system of preK to 12 schools, informing how leaders lead, teachers teach, students learn, and families support students. This curricular development is a true collaboration with the Departments of Teaching, Learning and Leadership and Student Services and Equity.
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Background:
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The City of Alexandria‘s Children and Youth Master Plan, which was unanimously approved in June 2014 by the Alexandria City Council and Alexandria City School Board, placed a significant focus on services available for Alexandria’s youth during out-of-school time, including the following goals:
○ Ensure that out of school time programs are offered in all areas of the city, are free or low-cost and located at neighborhood schools/recreation centers.
○ Align in-school and afterschool programs that deliver academic/social enrichment with school curriculum in instances where students are not meeting grade-level expectations.
○ Create an integrated and aligned out-of-school time system that includes review of best practices/quality, assessment of needs and preferences, identification of service gaps, access, affordability and opportunities to develop civic responsibility.
○ Call for the development of a work group to address the City’s OSTP needs (established 2017)
○ Conduct a city wide assessment of out of school time opportunities
(conducted in 2018)
To address the goals of the Children and Youth Master Plan and various areas of the ACPS’ 2020 Strategic Plan, particularly as it related to addressing achievement gaps, the ACPS Office of Community Partnerships and Engagement designed and implemented LINK Club, (Linking Instruction, Nurturing Knowledge), a high-quality afterschool program with an emphasis on academic achievement support and opportunity for high-need, low-income students at no cost to families.
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Recommendation:
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The Superintendent recommends that the School Board review the information in this memo to gain a better understanding of the current programming and the path moving forward to expand and strengthen out of school time opportunities to meet the ever-growing needs of our school community.
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Approvals:
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Recommended By:
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Signed By:
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Julia Burgos - Chief of School and Community Relations
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Signed By:
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Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr. - Superintendent
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