Community Context and Program Goals
What is the context of the Kent Learning Together program?
The Kent Learning Together program in Kent School District completed its second grant year in 2024-25. The 21st CCLC grant has supported Kent Learning Together in providing high-quality programming in response to the needs and assets of the community. These include:
- The program serves a suburban are of King County with large low-income, immigrant, BIPOC, and refugee populations.
- The school communities include a large population of Multi- Language Learner (MLL) students and low-income students. See Table 1.
- At East Hill, 43% of students are MLL, and at Springbrook, 49% of students are MLL, compared to 31% district wide.
- At East Hill and Springbrook, 72% and 69% of students are low-income, respectively, compared to 56% of students across the district.
- Both schools serve racially diverse student populations. East Hill served a greater proportion of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic/Latino (of any race) students, compared to Kent School District. Springbrook served a greater proportion of Asian and Black/African American students compared to Kent School District.
- Student assessment results are below district averages in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math. See Table 1.
- Fourth (4th) grade students meeting grade level standard in ELA were 22% and 23% at East Hill and Springbrook, respectively, compared to 40% for the district.
- For Math, 18% of 4th grade students at East Hill met standard, 23% of students at Springbrook, and 40% of 4th grade students district-wide.
The Kent Learning Together program experienced a system outage for their texting system with families, which prevented their ability to use their usual mechanisms to communicate with families during what they felt was a stressful time, with uncertainty about program funding and increased immigration enforcement across the country.
Table 1: Student Demographics and Academic Outcomes[1]
|
Student Demographics and Academic Outcomes (from OSPI Report Card)
|
East Hill Elementary School 383 |
Springbrook Elementary School 350 |
Kent 25,455 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race/Ethnicity | ||||
| American Indian /Alaskan Native | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.3% | |
| Asian | 24.8% | 35.4% | 23.6% | |
| Black/African American | 13.1% | 17.4% | 12.7% | |
| Hispanic/Latino (of any race) | 30.3% | 18.6% | 24.0% | |
| Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander | 9.4% | 5.4% | 3.5% | |
| Two or More Races | 10.2% | 7.1% | 9.3% | |
| White | 12.3% | 16.0% | 26.5% | |
| Other Student Demographics | ||||
| Multilingual Learners (MLL) | 42.6% | 48.6% | 31.1% | |
| Low Income | 72.1% | 68.9% | 56.3% | |
| Students with Disabilities (Special Education) | 24.0% | 18.3% | 14.8% | |
| Academic Assessment Results | ||||
| SBA ELA 4th Grade % meeting standard (2023-24) | 22.0% | 23.3% | 39.8% | |
| SBA Math 4th Grade % meeting standard (2023-24) | 18.0% | 23.3% | 39.6% | |
What does the Kent Learning Together program aim to achieve?
The Kent Learning Together program established goals and objectives that are used to frame the 21st CCLC programming and structure during the Cohort 19 grant timeframe. Program goals and objectives focus on student academic achievement, social-emotional learning, regular program attendance, family engagement, and community partnerships as follows:
Meet the individual needs of students in the areas of math, reading, and social emotional learning.
- 50% of regular attendees will demonstrate progress in math and reading.
- 50% of regular attendees will improve classroom behavior.
Create a sense of belonging and engagement for students in 21st CCLC program, with focus on students furthest from educational opportunity.
- 10% of total school population will regularly attend program (i.e., attend 30 days or more).
- At least 60% of regular attendees will attend program for 60 days or more.
- Among regular attendees, data will not show differences in regular attendees or 60+ day attendees across race, ethnicity, or MLL groups.
- 50% of regular attendees will indicate positive social emotional experiences.
Strengthen family-school connection for families in 21st CCLC program, with focus on families furthest from educational opportunity.
- 75% of regular attendees will have a family member attend at least one family event, with no disparity in family participation as a function of race, ethnicity, or MLL status.
- Of families who participate in family events, 95% will rate the event positively and feel more connected to their school.
Support collaboration and participation of students, families, and partners to help inform programmatic opportunities and developments.
- Measurable improvement in relevant sections of the YPQA each year, at each site; or an average rating over 4.0.
- Each 21st CCLC program site will add one partnership each year that reflects the population(s) served at each school.
[1] From OSPI Report Card, https://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/ Accessed July 2025.