![[Table of Contents]](/icons/up.gif){kind=icon}
Keeping schools open longer before and after school, and during the summer can turn schools into Community Learning Centers. By keeping school doors open during non-traditional school hours, the school provides students, parents, and the community with access to valuable educational resources. A Community Learning Center housed in the community school can be a safe after-school and summer haven for children, where learning takes place in a building removed from the violence, drugs, and lack of supervision of children that permeate some communities in America.
Community Learning Centers get us "back to basics," back to active community involvement in raising and educating all of our children. The positive impact on children of re-establishing the ties among home, school, and community has been widely recognized. It is a cornerstone of President Clinton's America Reads Challenge proposal which seeks to match reading partners with children having reading difficulties, in before- and after-school and summer programs. As the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching points out, collaboration between home and school is essential both to family functioning and to school success.
Schools as Community Learning Centers can be a critical resource to meet the growing need for children to have safe and productive activities during the hours outside of the school day. While the number of after-school child care programs has grown over the last 20 years, there are still not enough organized, extended learning opportunities. In 1995, there were 23.5 million school-age children with parents in the workforce, yet as recently as the 1993-94 school year, only 3.4 percent of children in public elementary and combined schools were enrolled in the 18,111 before- or after-school programs at public schools.
In too many cases, organized before and after school programs are simply not available to children in public schools. Of the 49,000 before and after school programs available in the U.S. in 1991, only about a third were housed in public schools, and seventy percent of all public elementary and combined schools did not have a before- or after-school program. Furthermore, although the need for programs serving older children is also substantial, only a tiny percentage of in-school and out-of-school care programs serve older children and youth. Less than 1 percent of 7th and 8th graders were in programs in 1991.
Our children's need for opportunities for learning and enrichment in a safe and drug-free environment continues to grow, and working parents want more access to extended learning opportunities. A 1994 survey of parents found that 56 percent think that many parents leave their children alone too much after school. And principals have long seen a need for extended learning programs; in a 1989 survey, 84 percent of school principals agreed that there is a need for before- and after-school programs.
Today, more than ever before in our nation's history, education is the fault line between those who will prosper in the new economy and those who will not. Most of today's good jobs require more skills and training than a high school diploma affords. Preparation for college begins the day a child first steps foot in the schoolhouse--but not every child has access to all of the other resources that they need. Before and after school and summer programs help kids stay on the right track from the beginning, by providing reading tutoring to younger children, mentors to guide older children through the math and science courses--like Algebra and Geometry--that pave the way to college, as well as the opportunities in the arts, sports, and recreation and help from caring adults to guide kids to grow and develop into strong individuals.
Public schools are uniquely suited to meet these formidable challenges. Among the many reasons keeping public schools open as Community Learning Centers make sense are that:
This guidebook outlines the steps needed to successfully convert a school into a community learning center and lists resources for further information and assistance. Included are concrete suggestions for how to:
Estimate typical costs. Costs for after-school and summer programs vary widely, based on the type of activities and services offered, the times that the program operates, whether transportation and materials are required, and the experience of the staff. However, programs have many options to meet costs including charging user fees; accessing a mix of local, state, and federal government funding; seeking competitive public or private grants; undertaking partnerships with youth and community organizations and private sector sponsors; and arranging with parents, community members, and National Service participants to volunteer time.
Develop a Community Learning Center budget. Figuring out a Community Learning Center's budget is critical for financing a program. It is useful to itemize a list of common expenses associated with establishing and operating a program and then the potential resources for financing the expenses; some items and services can be donated, while others may have no cost. A source-by-source accounting of funding is useful, too.
Build consensus and partnership. Extending learning time at a school through programs such as reading tutoring, homework centers, mentoring middle school students in math and science, or a drug-prevention program may require collaboration among diverse partners: not only parents and educators, but also community residents, service providers and public officials may need, and want, to be involved in the process. Programs should keep in mind the goal of drawing upon all of the community's available resources, while addressing the concerns of all who are affected as true partners.
Conduct a community assessment of needs and resources. A community assessment helps a partnership turn a shared vision for continuous learning and safety into strategies that use resources efficiently to address local conditions. Assessment information can come from interviews, surveys, focus groups, and community forums. All local stakeholders can contribute to the assessment process so that the resulting strategies address real concerns, and consider all possible resources. For example, is there a local college nearby which could provide work-study students or volunteers, or low-cost teaching assistants?
Design an effective program. Successful partnerships have concluded that every school and community must choose its own combination of opportunities to address local conditions and concerns. Nevertheless, effective programs address the following issues: establish vision and focus; address needs in an appropriate manner; coordinate efforts; and establish a system of accountability from the beginning.
Consider logistical issues. School governance, liability, and building maintenance issues are paramount to making a Community Learning Center work. Strong leadership, collaborative decisionmaking, a clear understanding of management and organization procedures and policies such as liability, as well as managed, mutually acceptable arrangements for space are elements of successful programs.
Obtain qualified staff. Staff for after-school or summer learning can come from the school, a partner agency, or the community, but should have appropriate experience, realistic expectations, and a true interest in caring for children. Paid professionals and teachers can be supplemented with volunteers, parents, AmeriCorps participants, federal Work Study students and other volunteers from local colleges or universities, community members, senior citizens, and business representatives. Experts agree that while there are wide variations in staff salaries, hours, benefits, and qualifications, it has generally been true that where key staff are paid reasonably and given benefits and other financial incentives, quality staffing is the result.
Evaluate a program's accomplishments. Community Learning Center programs are by nature complex, and no matter how well designed, must learn from experience. Continuous monitoring of the progress of a program--in addition to a shared understanding of the program's goals--can help leaders and staff maintain their focus, improve effectiveness and accountability, ensure parent and participant satisfaction, and identify necessary changes. Continuous monitoring allows a program's director to assess whether its key features are working as intended, and helps the program to do better than before.
Keeping schools open after typical hours to become a Community Learning Center is a significant way to help meet the increasing needs of our nation's children in a caring environment. By uniting parents, principals, teachers, and community groups in partnership, communities can assess and meet real student needs such as addressing reading deficiencies and helping students learn math at internationally competitive levels, eliminate waste of resources by coordinating efforts, and gain the advantages of shared expertise and experience. Children, families, and the whole community will benefit as children learn and grow in a safe and friendly, enriching environment.
"Increasingly, our schools are critical to bringing our communities together. We want them to serve the public not just during school hours but after hours: to function as vital community centers; places for recreation and learning, positive places where children can be when they can't be at home and school is no longer going on; gathering places for young people and adults alike. Bringing our schools into the 21st century is a national challenge that deserves a national commitment."
|
William Jefferson Clinton President of the United States July 11, 1996 |
[The Benefits of Schools as Community Learning Centers]