OUT OF SCHOOL TIME PARTNERSHIP

Lee Allinger, Appleton Area School District (AASD), discussed how in the early 1990’s, school started earlier, lunch periods were shortened to 45 minutes and school was done sooner. The AASD needed to respond to the fact that both parents were working and needed to get their kids to school earlier, the changing family structure and how to provide a hot lunch program. Kids were also coming home to empty houses. The AASD thought about how they provide a safe, caring, nurturing environment for students after school and make it an extension of the school day. The Out of School Time Coalition was formed with the AASD, YMCA and the Boys and Club. Greg Lemke-Rochon, Boys and Girls Club of the Fox Valley, talked about when the Coalition came together their primary concern was to make sure that the services they provided were at the highest quality as they could deliver. The Coalition developed Continuous Improvement Plans under the Wisconsin After School Continuous Improvement Process Tool. The Coalition agreed about some of the critical components of what makes a quality Out of School Time program for kids: a safe and productive environment, diverse range of programs and activities, professional staff, partnerships and a communication strategy. The most dangerous, vulnerable time in a child’s life is after school from 3:00-6:00 p.m. when most are not supervised. Danielle Engelbert, YMCA, explained that the partnership is between the AASD, Boys and Girls Club and YMCA. The Coalition is an expansion of this group adding community members, Outagamie County, Appleton Police Department, FVTC, Harbor House, JC Penney, Building for Kids, City of Appleton, U. W. Extension and additional staff from the 3 partners. The Coalition’s objectives are: to develop a long range plan around issues of access, sustainability, advocacy, high quality programs, develop a system of training and implement the Wisconsin After School Continuous Improvement Process Tool. The Coalition has spent time creating awareness in the community, offered an after school hero week program and organized the Lights on After School event. The Out-of-School Time Partnership is funded through a grant from the Basic Needs Giving Partnership supported by the U.S. Venture Fund for Basic Needs within the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, and the J.J. Keller Family Foundation, Inc. as well as the State of Wisconsin 21st Century Learning Grant. Jaime Kriewaldt, Out of School Partnership, discussed how this program is located at the following sites: Badger, Columbus, Foster, Highlands, Horizon, Jefferson, McKinley, Roosevelt, Wilson and Boys and Girls Club. During the 2011-2012 school year, an average of over 1300 students was served. Out of the 1300 students, 725 are considered low income or receive free/reduced lunch and 575 are ethnic/minority. As of the end of September 2012, over 3,000 were enrolled (1500 low income / 1200 ethnic/minority). During a typical day, the students go to the gym/multipurpose room, snack and break time, one hour of academic enrichment activities then sports, technology, arts, health and fitness. Organizations also come in to provide supplemental programming. Most of the programs end at 6:00 p.m. Programming is also offered during the summer months.