Running head: 21st Century Afterschool Program

Tiffany Credle
Wilmington University
Agency Report
June 5, 2017
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According to Youth.Gov, afterschool programs serve children and youth of all ages, and

encompass a broad range of focus areas including academic support, mentoring, youth

development, arts, and sports and recreation. The activities in which children and youth engage

while outside of school hours are critical to their development, highlighting the need for quality

afterschool programs in all communities. In Delaware, 19% of K-12 youth are responsible for

taking care of themselves after school. The U.S. Department of Educations 21st Century

Community Learning Centers Initiative supports 18% of Delaware children who participate in

afterschool programs (After School Alliance, n.d.).

Mission

The Senator Success Program (SSP) at Dover High School was founded in October of

2010 through Cohort 8 of the 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant. The vision of the

SSP is excellence today for a changing tomorrow and their mission is to increase the on-time

graduation rate of all the students actively participating in this inclusive program. Current goals

of the 21st Century Senator Success Afterschool Program is to improve overall academic

achievement, reduce absenteeism, prevent drug and alcohol abuse, develop leadership skills,

improve self-confidence and self-esteem, improve health and nutrition supports, increase college

enrollment, and create a sense of belonging (B. Gavas, personal communication, June 5, 2017).

Demographics

The targeted student population are grade levels 9-12 with a focus on low income based

families. With Dover High being a Title I eligible school, the SSP targets the entire student body

in an inclusive matter, with additional participation from the Kent County Community School

(Delaware Autistic Program-DAP). Total enrollment is 183 students with 152 actives. The
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average daily attendance is 120 students. There are 81 males and 71 females. There are 91

African Americans, 33 Caucasians, 27 Hispanics, and 47 Special Needs (IEP, 504, BIP) (B.

Gavas, personal communication, June 5, 2017).

Policies & Procedures

Senator Success Site Coordinator in cooperation with building/district administration

enrolls all participants, hire staff & oversee day to day implementation. Students are recruited

into the Senator Success Program through open house events, administrator, teacher, and

guidance counselor referrals, as well as parent/guardian and student requests. During the

orientation process, a parent/student handbook is provided. Policies related to attendance,

tardiness, expected behavior and discipline procedures are included in the handbook and

reviewed with participants and their guardians (B. Gavas, personal communication, June 5,

2017).

All volunteers and staff within Capital School District must have a background check

through Capital School District Human Resource Office. An application is completed by the

applicant and reviewed by the Site Coordinator, building principal and director of secondary

curriculum. Upon completion, the applicants name is run through the State of Delaware

Registered Sex Offender data base. Background checks must be renewed each year according to

district policy (B. Gavas, personal communication, June 5, 2017).

Structure

The two main staff members that oversee the day to day implementation of the SSP are

the Site Coordinator and Assistant Coordinator. Overall staffing consists of up to six

professional and four teachers with scheduling based on their programmed activities. Dover
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High School provides adequate space for programming while handling all disciplinary problems.

The Site Coordinator in cooperation with building and district administration act as a program

liaison in communication with all community partners as it relates to the program (B. Gavas,

personal communication, June 5, 2017).

Capital School
District

Dover High
Building Principals

Site Assist Site

Coordinator Coordinator

Paraprofessionals Teachers Volunteers

Community Parents/Guardians
Partnerships

Governance

Governance is thru the partnership of the District office, Cohort 8 of the 21st Century

Learning Center Grant and the Department of Education. The program site coordinator works in

collaboration with the building administration to collect all interim and long-term assessment

data, including class grades, Accuplacer testing, Student Retention data, Reading/Math Inventory

and graduation rates. The data is reviewed at 21st Century staff meetings per the guidelines and
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analyzed to determine individual student growth. It can be further analyzed by student

demographic and reviewed for action steps (B. Gavas, personal communication, June 5, 2017).

Home base teachers are content specific with a paraprofessional support and provide aid for

students in order to remediate or accelerate their learning. Consistently reviewing pertinent data

is not only critical to outcomes and student success, but relevant for ongoing grant funding.

Funding

Our program is funded internally by the 21st Century Learning Center Grant of $250,000.

The grant covers the program for 2 years. Additional funding comes from donations from

community resources and parent/guardians. These funds go to an external account which can be

used to obtain items such as banquet food or awards which are not covered under the grant.

Partnerships

By establishing key partnerships, the SSP at Dover High School is a resource within the

school and community alike. Junior achievement of Delaware State University, Kent County

Community School, Polytech Adult Education, and the Food Bank of Delaware objectives and

goals align strongly with those of the SSP (B. Gavas, personal communication, June 5, 2017).

Junior Achievement will allow our students to take part in lessons for personal and professional

finance, ethics, career exploration, job shadows, and leadership skills. Delaware State University

will provide supports in Accuplacer (college entrance exam) testing, data analysis, student

remediation, mentoring, and student retesting for college entrance. Kent County Community

School (Delaware Autistic Program-DAP) will be providing a swimming pool for lessons, a

certified life guard, and promoting student enrollment of autistic students in this inclusive

program. Polytech Adult Education (James H. Groves) will provide on-site remedial supports to
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students enrolled in the program and credit recovery supports in Algebra and Spanish, using their

resources and Dover High Schools facilities (B. Gavas, personal communication, June 5, 2017).

The partnership with the Food Bank of Delaware will provide nutrition to all participants

at no cost and provide ancillary materials to be used in supporting healthy eating habits and

nutrition materials. By joining forces and sharing resources, the opportunity for each

organization to make a difference is inevitable. Wesley College is also joining our community of

support with a mentoring program that will support the SSP and school overall. The Delaware

Department of Transportation is also collaborating with Capitol School District, including Dover

High School, with the TRAC & RIDES Programs that offer students a hands-on program that

lets students use math and science to solve real-world problems in transportation and engineering

(B. Gavas, personal communication, June 5, 2017).

Strengths, Trends & Challenges

There are many high quality educational and enrichment opportunities provided by the

21st CCLC that help build lifelong skills in areas such as nutrition and health, art, music,

technology, and physical education, literacy, science, and other areas. For five years, this

program has become embedded within the Dover High School and graduation rates have

increased overall from 80% ESEA 2012-2013 to 87% ESEA 2013-2014 (B. Gavas, personal

communication, June 5, 2017). The program is a multifaceted resource and intervention for

students, supporting teachers, counselors, administration, case workers, and parents.

Some of the challenges that we face are parental involvement and staff engagement. As

students get into high school, parent engagement is lesser in some cases due to the demographic

of single family homes. In other cases, it is because both parents are working and their schedule
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does not allow the extra time. The vulnerable population we work with desire a sense of

belonging and connection so it is imperative that our staff are well experienced in engaging our

youth. We see at times that staff find comfort in just watching and observing as well as

refraining from conflict. While embracing the importance of intellect, afterschool providers

must equally engage the hearts of youth. In working with groups, this framework activates not

only the power of collective purpose, but also helps lower the barriers that keep us separate from

each other, inviting us to greater compassion, trust, and concern for each other (Gass, 2010). For

youth workers to build connected trusting relationships, it is imperative that their mission

imitates that of the program.

My Role

As an intern, my role is to learn the administrative piece of the program. I am learning

how to coordinate with program directors and engage with teachers, partners, and our

community. My objective is to raise awareness with the partnerships we have in the community

and discover how to groom productive adults coming out of high school. With 8.4 million

children in the U.S. spending an average of eight hours a week in afterschool programs,

afterschool providers are an important part of the network of caring adults who can help establish

safe healthy relationships (Gandarilla & ODonnell). Building a rapport with parents and the

community is a very important component of our jobs.

High quality afterschool programs generate outcomes for youth including improved

academic performance, classroom behavior, and health and nutrition. Communities and

businesses also benefit when youth have safe and productive ways to spend their time while their

parents are at work (Youth,Gov, n.d.). An afterschool program can expose youth to new

interests, and children with learning or attention issues may feel more accepted. Staff in the
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programs can provide positive relationships and give feedback to help kids improve their social

skills (Kelly, n.d.). Stronger and more widespread supports for youth outside their homes,

schools, social service, and work experiences are essential to optimize youth development

outcomes. The key to this strategy is full assessment of the supports and opportunities available

in gap periods to all youth and particularly to youth who are hard to reach (Gambone & Connell,

2004).
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REFERENCES

After School Alliance. Retrieved on June 6th 2017 from www.afterschoolalliance.org

Gambone, M. A., & Connell, J. P. (2004). The community action framework for youth

development. Retrieved on March 30, 2017 from www.edfundwest.org

Gandarilla, M., & ODonell, J. (2017). Keeping children safe. Afterschool and mandated child

maltreatment reporting. Retrieved on March 30, 2017 from www.niost.org

Gass. R. (2010). What is transformational change? Retrieved on March 30, 2017 from

http://transform.transformativechange.org

Kelly, K. (n.d.). Benefits of afterschool programs. Retrieved on June 6th 2017 from

https://www.understood.org

Benefits for youth, families & communities. Retrieved on June 6th from youth.gov