What older children do after
school when parents are working has been, and is, a knotty problem that
government and private sources are working hard to solve. In Boston and
in other communities, after-school programs provide great benefits to
students and to the communities the programs serve. Included:
What makes an after-school program successful?
The number of after-school programs is growing at an explosive rate! In
schools, Y's, and community centers, programs spring up to meet the ever-increasing
needs of working parents for after-school care for their children.
Signs of after-school care boom abound. In January, President Bill Clinton
announced that he wants to triple funding for after-school programs --
from $200 million in 1999 to $600 million in the fiscal year 2000. The
$200 million in 1999 would support the development or enhancement of after-school
programs in 4,000 schools, affecting 500,000 children.
Clinton tied his request for new funds to another hot-button
education issue. He said that when granting awards under this 21st
Century Community Learning Centers program, the Department of Education
would give priority to schools that avoid "social promotion."
BOSTON LEADS THE WAY!
A city at the forefront of after-school programs is Boston, where Mayor
Thomas M. Menino announced in March that the Boston 2:00 to 6:00 After-School
Initiative would
open 20 new, school-based programs in six months;
raise $5 million in new resources from city, federal, state, and
private sectors to support new and existing after-school programs;
release the nation's first guide outlining federal, state, and local
funding available for after-school programs.
Menino also announced the establishment of a special task force, to
be chaired by a Boston entrepreneur. The task force will, according to
the mayor's office, focus on program funding, program quality, and improving
educational opportunities for young people.
According to 2:00 to 6:00 project director Eric Christofferson, 16,000
of 81,000 students in the Boston school system participate in after-school
programs. The 20 new programs announced by the mayor will increase by
900 the number of students involved. The total number of full-time and
part-time programs now is approximately 240; 43 of the 2:00 to 6:00 programs
take place in school buildings.
"We've been up and running only since this past July," said Jennifer
Davis, 2:00 to 6:00 executive director. "We base what we offer in our
program on a five-month study that included interviewing hundreds of community
leaders and parents. We learned that people wanted more than just after-school
care."
"Parents," Davis continued, "wanted a safe learning environment where
children could get help with their homework and extra tutoring, if they
needed it."
Now, Davis said, 2:00 to 6:00 is "working on designing an assessment
to determine the influence of 2:00 to 6:00 on areas such as literacy,
improvement in reading, and truancy."
The B.E.L.L. (Building Enterprises for Living and Learning) Foundation's
after-school program at the Lee Elementary School is an example of Boston's
2:00 to 6:00 programs. The program, which serves hundreds of kids throughout
Boston, offers mentoring and tutoring programs.
Shirley O'Neil, the grandmother and guardian of Julian O'Neil, said
that since participating in the B.E.L.L. Foundation's program, Julian
is "reading and writing better, and he's becoming more creative and inquisitive
and his self-esteem is higher."
HOW CAN AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS HELP?
What exactly happens to kids when they participate in after-school programs?
According to http://www.ed.gov/pubs/SafeandSmart Safe and Smart: Making
the After-School Hours Work for Kids, a June 1998 report produced by the
Departments of Justice and Education, evidence exists that quality after-school
programs can help
decrease juvenile crime, school vandalism, and negative peer influences
leading to drug, alcohol, and tobacco use;
strengthen students' academic achievement;
improve school attendance and reduce dropout rates;
help more students do their homework;
improve students' behavior in school;
boost the number of students who have plans for the future, including
goals to finish high school and go on to college.
A NATIONWIDE NEED
A nationwide survey, funded by the Mott Foundation, shows that the demand
for after-school programs is widespread. According to results of the survey,
taken in August 1998, 90 percent of Americans favored offering daily enrichment
programs for all children. Eighty percent said they would be willing to
pay more taxes for such programs, which include after-school programs.
Those surveyed, when asked about the hours after school, said they worried
most about children's being alone and unsupervised, followed by peer influence
and excessive TV watching. Only four of ten thought their communities
provide the kind of programs needed to help solve those problems.
The results of the survey, said Department of Education secretary Richard
Riley, emphasize why the Clinton administration has called for raising
federal support for after-school programs.
NOT ALL AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS TAKE PLACE IN SCHOOLS
Not all after-school programs take place in schools, although most,
if not all, such programs include an emphasis on academics. One non-school
after-school program is the Homework Club, "a place for children to go
after school and before their parents come home from work, where they
study, play and enjoy the amenities of home from 3 to 8 p.m." The Homework
Club is a business venture of Pam Carrano in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.,
a small town of 8,000.
Homework is the essence of Carrano's program. Younger children work
in her basement, and older children work at the parish hall of a local
church. Some children go home for dinner; others have dinner with Carrano.
The Homework Club is for middle- and high-school students who may think
they are ready to be alone at home after school but whose parents are
uncomfortable leaving them solo. "This is the age where they say they
don't need you," said one mother, "but they really do."
When children can't be with parents because the parents work, many parents
would say the next best thing is a program like the Homework Club.
AFTER-SCHOOL RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET
Century
Community Learning Centers This Web site provides links to a Mott
Foundation press release and poll data. Examples of successful applications
from 1998 21st Century Community Learning programs are also available
here.
After-School
Programs to Be Expanded A Boston Globe story reports that
Mayor Thomas M. Menino is increasing the number of after-school programs
in Boston by 20.
Questions about the application package or competition involved in the
21st Century Community Learning Centers program should be directed to
the Department of Education by e-mail (21stCCLC@ed.gov),
fax (202 219-2198), or phone (202 219-2180).
Boom
Time for After-School Programs