Program Operations, Schedule, Staffing, and Recruitment
Operations and Schedule
Over the course of the six-year grant, Meeker and Mill Creek both offered programming in Summer, Fall, and Spring that was open to all students who wanted to participate.
Summer programming:
- Followed each school year, with programming offered for 4-7 hours per day.
- Meeker’s program expanded from 4 hours per day in Summer 2017 and 2018, to 7 hours per day in Summer 2019, and then to 5.5 hours in Summer 2021.
- Was open to 7th and 8th grade students, and recruitment included referral by counselors, returning students from school-year program, and sharing information at feeder elementary schools
- Was flexible and adaptable in shifting to a shortened virtual program in 2020. Summer 2020 programming ran for three weeks, rather than four weeks as in prior years, and was held virtually.
For school-year programming:
- From 2016-17 until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020, the afterschool program ran for 30-32 weeks for 2-3 hours per day.
- Mill Creek expanded their afterschool programming on early release days in Years 2 and 3, with five hours of programming on Wednesdays.
- The program was interrupted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed virtual programming in Summer 2020. Meeker was able to provide online programming during the Spring 2020 session.
- School year programming in 2020-21 was offered virtually and shifted back to in-person programming in 2021-22.
Staffing
21st CCLC Site Coordinators worked in each school to oversee staff and programming. Meeker partnered with After-School All Stars to provide staffing for programs. Both sites had paid and volunteer staff, including site administrators, community members, school day teachers and other non-teaching school day staff, parents, and college students. Over the summer, Meeker recruited 9th/10th grade volunteers who may have been through the program themselves. There were also five high school interns who supported programming at Meeker in Summer 2018.
Recruitment
Both sites aimed to serve 7th and 8th grade students across all years of the grant. Recruitment included tabling at feeder elementary schools. Meeker also recruited via referrals from parents and teachers, and 9th graders were recruited to serve as staff helpers in the 2018-19 school year at Meeker.