The Agency of Education announced the recipients of the afterschool grant award. This $3.5 million grant program was established to expand and create new afterschool and summer programs statewide. Nine supervisory unions/ (SU/SDs) and seven private entities spread across 11 different counties have successfully applied and been granted their award. $1,237,019.35 will be awarded in the first year of the program with an estimated $3,711,058.05 proposed over the next three years.
Grant recipients will work to leverage local partnerships, increase staffing, reduce waitlist, and provide additional training for staff. Students will receive additional opportunities to focus on career readiness through collaboration community organizations. New programs will be established to better serve New Americans, English Language Learners, and students with truancy and academic challenges. Other programs will foster youth leadership and volunteer opportunities allowing for peer mentorship and social emotional learning. Grantees include:
- Addison Northwest School District
- Expansion of an existing afterschool center at Vergennes Elementary school. By leveraging partnerships with local municipal and non-profit organizations, this project will ensure programing is available to nearly 200 students for 36 weeks over the course of the year.
- Boys and Girls Club of Brattleboro Inc
- Expansion of services offered through the organizations Teen Center with a focus on academic support and career exploration. Grant funds will be used to support tutoring, college and career prep workshops, and site visit to colleges in the region as well as arts programming and community service opportunities.
- Burlington SD
- Addition of expanded programming to existing afterschool offerings with a focus on supporting students from historically marginalized groups across the district. New programs will focus on better serving new Americans, English language learners, and students with truancy or academic challenges. Funding will be used to provide academic supports as well as to connect historically marginalized students with cultural and recreational opportunities in the Burlington area.
- Caledonia Central SU (1 of 2)
- Expansion of existing afterschool programming in six schools across the district. This funding will support the addition of high quality educational, cultural, and recreational opportunities to each program though contracted connections with local partners.
- Caledonia Central SU
- Development of a single-site k-12 afterschool program at Cabot School. This project will involve a partnership between the school and the local library as well as a robust youth leadership component as older students are trained to facilitate programming for their younger peers.
- Franklin Northeast SU
- Expansion of existing programing offerings through the addition of extra staff to cut down on the students being waitlisted. In addition, the district will be adding a series of high interest “mini-camps” that will operate in conjunction with their ordinary summer programming. This model will allow the district to offer more specialized programming by leveraging existing operations.
- King Street Center, Inc.
- Expansion of programming being offered at the King Street Center for k-12 youth in Burlington. Additional funding will be used to expand the capacity of their afterschool and summer programs as well as their youth mentoring program.
- Kingdom East Unified Union School District
- Expansion of offerings at the district’s k-8 summer program. This funding will allow the addition of academic programming provided by both certified teachers and contracted partners as well as off-site field trips to provide enhanced educational and cultural enrichment.
- Missisquoi Valley SD
- Expansion of the districts existing Teen Leadership Program for students in grades 5-12. Participants in this program are supported in engaging in work and volunteer opportunities around the county as well as training and opportunities to serve as peer mentors within their district. Fund will support additional youth training opportunities and support accessing off-site volunteer opportunities.
- Montshire Museum of Science
- Development of new stem-focused afterschool programming to be delivered in partnership with and delivered on-site with Northfield Elementary School, Washington Village School, Williamstown Elementary School, and Green Street School.
- North East Kingdom Community Action, Inc
- Development of a Youth Center in Newport City. This center will be focused on delivering enrichment opportunities and a healthy connection space for young people in grades 9-12. Programming will include academic support as well as Social Emotional Learning opportunities, life skills education, and safe and inclusive recreational opportunities.
- Orange Southwest Unified Union School District
- Development of a new afterschool program for students in grades 5-12 with a dual focus on academic enrichment and social emotional development. This project will include special programming designed to give grade 5 and 6 students at the district’s three elementary schools an opportunity to meet and make connections before they all join for grade 7 at the district’s one middle school.
- Paran Recreations, Inc.
- Expansion of programming being delivered in a summer day camp setting for students in grades k-12. This program is designed to leverage partnerships with local municipal resources, non-profit organizations, and businesses to give participants unique enrichment and recreational opportunities as well as strengthen their connections to their local community.
- University of Vermont
- Expansion of a program that provides virtual and in-person afterschool opportunities for young people across the state enrolled in the federal Migrant Education Program. This funding will allow for English language tutoring, academic support, and wellness education as well as in-person field trips to enrichment opportunities with community partners.
- Vermont Works for Women
- Expansion of existing programming providing hands-on tradeskills instructions, as well as Social Emotional Learning, to middle and high school aged girls. This funding will support the delivery of one additional week of high school programming in Essex and two additional weeks of middle school programming each in Essex and Barre per summer.
- White River Valley SU
- Expansion of afterschool and summer programming serving students in grades k-8. Programs will build on a history of successful out-of-school time model incorporating academic enrichment, recreational opportunities, and targeted tutoring support. This additional funding will allow for increased capacity as well as enhanced training for program staff.
- Windham Southeast SU
- Expansion of afterschool programming for students in grades 7 and 8. This project will build on a pre-existing successful program for this age range by adding capacity, enhancing the quality of programing, and expanding the hours of support being offered. Additional funding will allow for the hiring of additional staff, off-site enrichment opportunities, and the addition of regular Saturday programming.