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Weekly Media Roundup: March 13, 2024

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Weekly Media Roundup: March 13, 2024

English Learners Stopped Coming to Class During the Pandemic. One Group is Tackling the Problem By Helping Their Parents, Hechinger Report

In North Carolina, nearly one third of English language learning students were chronically absent last year, a rate significantly higher than the state’s overall student absenteeism rate. OurBRIDGE for Kids, an afterschool program for immigrant and refugee students in Charlotte, North Carolina, is addressing the issue with a comprehensive approach that is producing strong results. “We realized before trying to address why your child isn’t going to school, we needed to ask, ‘What’s worrying you right now?’ That question really opened up all the reasons why going to school was not the first priority for many families: housing insecurity, food insecurity, job loss,” Sil Ganzó, founder of ourBRIDGE for Kids and an Afterschool Alliance Afterschool Ambassador, told the Hechinger Report. In addition to providing culturally responsive afterschool programing, ourBRIDGE connects families to staff members who speak the same language and to local community support services.

State Working on Afterschool Programs. WV Metro News (West Virginia)

At the inaugural West Virginia Afterschool Quality Conference in Charleston, more than 120 out-of-school time programs gathered to discuss best practices and the need to expand access to afterschool statewide. The conference was organized by the state Department of Education in partnership with the Department of Human Services Division of Early Care and Education with the West Virginia Statewide Afterschool Network, which released its updated program standards at the event. “There are a lot more kids in West Virginia that would love to participate in an afterschool program if they had access to an afterschool program,” Susan Gamble, director of the West Virginia Statewide Afterschool Network, told WV Metro News.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Sierra Vista Expanding With a New After-School Program in Palominas School District, KGUN 9 (Arizona)

Students in the Palominas School District in Arizona will soon have access to a comprehensive afterschool program thanks to a new partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Sierra Vista. The new program will be the Club’s third in the Sierra Vista area and will offer a wide variety of activities not currently available at the students’ schools. For example, Palominas School District Superintendent Sherri Rosalik told KGUN9, “We’ve got some kids who are so into STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), and we don’t have those resources, but we could set up a room that has those 3D printers and Chromebooks [at the afterschool program], and we could do cool STEM activities in there.”

After School Academy Aims to Complement Classroom Learning, Sonoma Index-Tribune (California)

At the After School Empowerment Academy in Sonoma, California, high school students are participating in driver’s education classes, ready to work programs, finance courses, and leadership and advocacy programs. The free afterschool program began this winter, thanks to a partnership between Sonoma Valley Educational Foundation, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley, and Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance. “Long gone are the days of measuring success solely by a grade on a report card,” Sonoma Valley Education Foundation Executive Director Angela Ryan told the Sonoma Index-Tribune. “We know that true success for our students is the opportunity to explore who they are and what they want to become in a safe, resourced and inclusive environment. The After School Empowerment Academy reflects this sentiment by offering programs that develop the whole student — socially and emotionally, practically and academically.”

Weekly Media Roundup: August 14, 2024

Virginia Designates Additional Aid for At-Risk Students, Virginia Mercury (Virginia) Beginning this fall, Virginia schools will have an additional $180 million per year to support at-risk students. A 2023 study found that Virginia provided less state funding for at-risk students than the...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      08/14/24

Weekly Media Roundup: August 7, 2024

Chicago Touts After-School Program Growth But Cuts Funding, Chalkbeat Weeks before the school year begins, many Chicago afterschool programs are facing dramatic funding cuts as federal COVID funds wind down and Chicago Public Schools is allocating fewer resources to out-of-school time programs....

BY: Magen Eissenstat      08/07/24

Weekly Media Roundup: July 31, 2024

A North Texas School District is Offering a Free Dinner Program for Students This Year, WFAA (Texas) This fall, Fort Worth Independent School District is partnering with Sodexo to provide free dinners at its afterschool enrichment programs. “We are excited about the opportunities this...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      07/31/24

Weekly Media Roundup: July 24, 2024

Davis Promotes Afterschool Programs in McKeesport Visit, The Mon Valley Independent (Pennsylvania) To celebrate Pennsylvania’s new BOOST (Building Opportunity through Out of School Time) initiative, which includes $11.5 million for afterschool, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis visited...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      07/24/24

Weekly Media Roundup: July 17, 2024

The Dog Days of Summer Drag. Summer Learning Programs Can Help, The Journal (Colorado) To celebrate National Summer Learning Week, 360 students across nine Colorado counties wrote postcards to their state lawmakers about why they love their summer learning programs. “I think summer camp is...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      07/17/24

Weekly Media Roundup: July 10, 2024

Education Matters: Central Valley Schools Are Expanding Students’ Learning Experiences,Your Central Valley (California) Thanks to a series of partnerships with county offices and Community Youth Ministries, students in the Selma Unified and Kings Canyon Unified School Districts in Fresno,...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      07/10/24

Weekly Media Roundup: July 3, 2024

Inside a Summer Learning Camp With an Uncertain Future After ESSER, Education Week More than 1,400 students are participating in Grizzly Learning Camp, a free, seven-week summer learning program run by Ypsilanti Community Schools in Michigan. It uses project-based learning – including...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      07/03/24

Weekly Media Roundup: June 27, 2024

The Surprising Reason Black Schools Face a ‘Fiscal Cliff’ This Fall, Word in Black As federal COVID emergency funds expire this fall, Black students around the country are at risk of losing access to afterschool programs and other supports that students in better-funded school...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      06/26/24

Weekly Media Roundup: June 20, 2024

Parents in Viroqua Come Together for the 'Save the After School Program' Campaign, WXOW (Wisconsin) At the McIntosh Memorial Library’s afterschool program in Viroqua, Wisconsin, students take part in outdoor games, visit local arts organizations, read to a therapy dog named Gordon,...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      06/20/24

Weekly Media Roundup: June 12, 2024

Tacoma's Late Night Summer Youth Program Aims to Curb Violence, Fox 13 Seattle (Washington) At 12 locations across Tacoma this summer, middle and high schoolers are taking part in Summer Late Nights programming held by Metro Parks Tacoma and Tacoma Public Schools. Each weeknight, teens can...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      06/12/24