Superintendent Rob Rankin is pleased to announce that the Gilchrist County School District has once again been awarded a 21st CCLC grant in order to serve Trenton Elementary and Bell Elementary with a three-hour after-school program as well as a summer program. “We are so excited to have this opportunity for students and parents back in our community,” said Mr. Rankin. The grant, totaling over $3 million for five years, will be used to provide additional academic and enrichment opportunities for our students. The program will focus on Project Based Learning and will include opportunities for parents to participate. Students will receive a snack each day and will get help with completing homework. In addition, targeted students will receive intensive remediation with certified teachers. All students in grades PK-5 will be eligible to participate, but students may be prioritized for enrollment if the number of applications exceeds the space available. Prioritization is not based on income or academic performance alone, but on a matrix of needs. Trenton Elementary will be accepting anywhere from 130 to 150 students, and Bell Elementary will be accepting anywhere from 80 to 100 students into the program. Lynette Langford, principal of TES, said, “We are excited that our students will have the opportunity to extend their learning in a fun way. In addition, we know that this will be a significant increase in many families’ spendable income.” BES principal Suzanne Mathe is also very familiar with the benefits of this program. “At BES, we know that this program can help our students succeed and our parents to have a safe place for their children after school.” Applications will be available at each school’s front office, as well as online at gilchristschools.org. We will announce a start date as soon as possible, but we anticipate that the program will begin sometime in November. The GCSD will be accepting applications for program teachers immediately. Please see the district’s employment page on the website in order to apply. Employment questions should be directed to Billie Jo Bible at (352) 463-4403 or [email protected]. Patricia Powers, the program’s director, explained that the program will allow the schools to serve each participating child with an additional 828 hours of instructional time each year. “It is like we are adding another 118 days to the school year for these students,” said Powers. “We are allowing them to experience learning in a hands-on, exciting way so that they develop a love of learning that will last a lifetime.” Not only will this program give students time to accelerate learning, but it also has the potential to save the parents in our community about $1.8 million in daycare costs over the course of the next five years. 21st Century is free to every parent, and will operate through 6:15 every school day. At this time, If you have any questions about the program, please contact Patricia Powers at (352) 463-4408 or [email protected].
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 20:49:22 +0000
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