Success For Each Child & Eliminate the Opportunity Gap by Leading with Racial Equity

Strengths and Opportunities

This section discusses program strengths and areas of opportunity based on the 2022-23 school year. 

Strengths: 

  • Accessibility and responsiveness of 21st CCLC programs: Systems and organizational practices helped support each 21st CCLC site’s ability to provide students with support through programming. 
    • Each of the three programs provides participants with transportation options and access to meals. Access to resources such as food and transportation during program help alleviate some of the barriers to participation. 
  • Partnerships: While all three sites shared the same primary partnership with the Kent School District, each of the sites also established connections with community-based organizations. Each of these partnerships represented opportunities and access to a variety or resources and experiences for 21st CCLC participants. 
  • Student Activities and Family Events: The range of activities provided to students and families through 21st CCLC programming demonstrates a commitment to diversity. The variety of student activities and family events reflected of the diverse interests and curiosities of participants. 
    • One example includes Mill Creek’s multicultural night which allowed for various student group performances, cultural wear, and knowledge sharing among peers.  

Opportunities: 

  • Operations: There were some operational challenges that each of the sites navigated during the first year of the grant. Staffing posed a challenge to several sites at the beginning of the program year. In fact, Neely O’Brien’s program did not onboard additional staff until January 2023. Additionally, as Site Coordinators began developing partnerships with community organizations and establishing roles and responsibilities, community partner meetings continued to be under development. 
  • Data measures: As demonstrated in several sections of this report, there was misalignment between some of the grant objectives and the reality of available and accessible datasets. 
  • Regular Attendance: As regular attendance continues to be a primary goal of the 21st CCLC program, data from the 2022-23 school indicate that this may be an area of opportunity moving forward. None of the 21st CCLC sites met the objective for proportion of students enrolled or proportion of regular attendees among program participants.