Nevada OST
“Out-of-school time (OST) programs operate ten hours or more per week on an on-going basis serving school-age (K-12) children. OST programs provide regularly scheduled, structured and supervised activities where learning opportunities take place outside the typical school day. OST programs may occur before school, after school, weekends, or during seasonal and track breaks.”
Success Stories
Washoe County
College dreams
Sun Valley after school students are excited about entering into the
Nevada State Treasures Scholarship contest on "I want to go to college
so I can become a___." The students have been working hard and even
enlisted their parents input on this topic. They worked two days on
making sure that spelling, and word count was correct. It was really
exciting to read about the students aspirations on becoming singers,
doctors, teachers, police person and much more.
Barbara Hawkins, Site Corrdinator 21st CCLC, Sun Valley Elementary School, Washoe County School District
Five girls from
Alice Maxwell Elementary School were entrants in the Nevada State Fair utilizing the projects they made in their afterschool crochet class. All of the girls placed, one of the girls one the Grand Champion Ribbon for the crochet division, another received Reserve Champion and Blue Ribbons, another girl received a Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon, the fourth girl received a Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon and the fifth girl received a Red Ribbon. The girls were so excited to be a part of the State Fair and for the opportunity to participate in their first competition. They all learned life skills that they can continue to utilize. It was great to watch them learn how to crochet and see them at the state competition. We are all incredibly proud of our students and all of their accomplishments!
Alice Maxwell TEAM UP, Washoe County School District
Clark County
Not too long
ago one of our graduated teen parents came back for a visit. We were not surprised to hear that she was in college and working full time at a reputable bank here in town. Although it was great to see her and the baby again, what she said that evening has encouraged all of us to keep believing in our after school programs. That evening she said you guys were right, true success is to finish what you start. We were very proud. The fact that this student realized the importance of taking full responsibility for her life, and her baby was proof that our before school Character Development Program was transforming her life in a positive way. That was remarkable considering her very aggressive, disrespectful attitude when she first started the program. She is also performing high grades on test in college. Her future is going to be positive because she choosing to remember the simple life lessons our programs have taught her.
Carmella Bernstein, Site Coordinator 21st CCLC at Cowen Sunset, Clark County School District
Last year,
our adult education class, Journey into English, was offered and approximately 10 parents regularly participated in the program. By the time the 2008-2009 school year was coming to an end, our principal wanted participation and community involvement to increase for the following school year. After developing a parent center and actively promoting the class during morning announcements, we were astonished to find the number of parents that signed up for the class; the parent class has more than doubled in regular attendance. Many parents are learning English, and are better able to communicate with their children's teachers. The principal, staff members, and parents have also developed a parent advisory board. Within this group, the principal is able to ask the community members what improvements can be made at school; as well as the parents communicating in an informal, yet effective setting with the principal. The parents are discovering that school is not a place to be scared of, but a place that can bring the community together.
Elbert Edwards 21st CCLC program, Clark County School District
Rural Counties
All of the students
in the Southside Elementary 21st CCLC are gaining confidence in math. On this weeks assessment in the regular classroom- they all scores between 7 and 9 out of 12. This is excellent growth since they were below 5 at the beginning of the year. Their review skills are getting more consistent and they're making simple mistakes now instead of lacking complete understanding.
Southside Elementary School 21st CCLC, Elko County School District
Central Counties
We have a
student who is active in our program who has been placed in foster care. Throughout her struggles she has continued to attend our program and maintain her grades. She participates in our dance team and has not missed a practice or performance. During her struggles this semester she has found adults at the afterschool program that she has been able to talk to about her problems. The afterschool program has provided her with a stable family where she could get the support she needed during a difficult time. Rosemary Clarke Middle School, Nye County School District
Isaiah is one of our first grade students at Lemaire Elementary 21st CCLC program. After attending this program he has increase his reading level to a 2.8! This is wonderful news since at the beginning of the year he was a at grade level, now he is a grade level higher in reading!
Lemaire Elementary School 21st CCLC program, Lander County School District
Out-of-School Time Facts
National: The number of children who are unsupervised in the afternoons has risen from 14.3 million (25 percent) in 2004, to 15.1 million (26 percent) in 2009. Today, 30 percent of middle school students and four percent of elementary school children are unsupervised after the school bell rings. (America After 3 PM, October 2009)
Nevada: The number of children who are unsupervised in the afternoons in Nevada is 38,799. (Elquist, M., The Children's Cabinet, Child Care in the State of NV, 2009) http://nevadaafterschoolnetwork.org/pdf/2009%20Report-County%20by%20County-FINAL.pdf
National: The parents of more than 28 million school age children work outside the home.(U.S. Department of Labor)
Nevada: There are 214,000 workers in Nevada who live in households where all parents work and where there are children between birth and age twelve. Together these parents earn more than $8.3 billion every year. A strong early care and education system offers parents options for how they choose to balance the responsibilities of raising their children and providing for them. (Insight Center for Community Economic Development, The Economic Impact of Early Care and Education in Nevada, 2011) http://nevadaafterschoolnetwork.org/pdf/EIR%20Executive%20Summary--Print%20Quality.pdf
National: Only 8.4 million children K-12 children (15 percent) participate in afterschool programs. An additional 18.5 million would participate if a quality program was available in their community. (America After 3 PM, October 2009)
Nevada: There are 324, 676 children Ages 6-14 in Nevada the demand for OST programs is 241,319, approximately 42,050 are in OST (meeting only 15.61%). Approximately, 31,200 attend School-Base OST programs, 5,650 attend Community-Based Organizations, 5,200 attend Licensed Childcare Facilities. (Elquist, M., The Children's Cabinet, Child Care in the State of NV, 2009) http://nevadaafterschoolnetwork.org/pdf/2009%20Report-County%20by%20County-FINAL.pdf
The hours between 3 pm and 6 pm are the peak hours for juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and sex. (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2002)
Three in four voters (76 percent) say afterschool programs are "an absolute necessity" for their community. (Afterschool Alliance, Election Even Poll, November 2008)
Out-of-School Time Programs Benefit Youth, Families and Communities
After-School and Summer Learning Programs can Foster Literacy, Especially for English Language Learners. (Learning to Read. Early Warning! Why Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters, A Kids Count Special Report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation)
Both the Harvard Family Research Project and the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) have also taken a research-based approach to identifying quality characteristics. The consolidation resulted in the following list of eight characteristics exemplified by quality programs: Prepared Staff, Intentional programming, Alignment with the school day, Promotion of varied youth engagement, strong community partners, Safe, Health & Wellness, Sustained student participation and access, Ongoing assessment and improvement. (Afterschool Alliance, Issue Brief: Quality Afterschool: Helping Programs Achieve It and Strengthening Policies to Support It, March 2011)
Quality afterschool programs are having a positive impact on a number of measures of student academic achievement, positively affecting behavior and discipline and helping relieve parents' worries about their children's safety. (Afterschool Alliance, Evaluations Background: A Summary of Formal Evaluations of Afterschool Programs' Impact on Academics, Behavior, Safety and Family life, March 2011)