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Wenatchee

District Awarded After School Program “21st Century” Grant for Newbery Elementary

District Awarded After School Program “21st Century” Grant for Newbery Elementary

Carolyn Griffin Bugert, Grant Coordinator

A $750,000 “21st Century Grant” has been awarded to Wenatchee School District to provide  an After School Program at John Newbery Elementary. “It’s a five year grant—$150,000 a year for five years,” says Carolyn Griffin Bugert, Wenatchee School District Grants Coordinator who wrote the grant application.The grant will serve 120 students at Newbery.

The purpose of the funding is to improve student’s academics. “Our approach in the After School Program is to provide academic support, plus enrichment activities,” says Griffin Bugert. “We really think the enrichment activities expand student’s minds so they have good academic outcomes when they later do standardized testing in the school environment.”

“Too many children don’t get enough educational opportunities outside class,” said Chris Reykdal, Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction. “These grants give those students the chance to keep learning after the bell rings and after the school year ends. That will help them keep pace with students who have more educational opportunities.”

The first After School Program in Wenatchee School District began in 1998 at Orchard Middle School. Griffin Bugert has kept the funding alive through a variety of grant sources, along with the federal 21st Century funds. Orchard and Pioneer middle schools, and Columbia and Mission View elementary schools are currently in the fifth year of a five-year grant. Lewis & Clark and Lincoln elementary schools are in their third year of a five year grant. “This Newbery grant is the third 21st Century grant, and it’s in its first year,” says Griffin Bugert. 

Data collected over the years of these grants clearly demonstrates that students who attend the an After School Program achieve higher growth on standardized tests than comparable students not in an After School Program. The 1,000-plus students served by Wenatchee’s After School Program are all below grade level, 77% are low-income, 70% are Hispanic, 27% are Migrant and 4% are homeless. These are some of the most academically at-risk students in our district. 

The Federal government is in the process of deciding whether or not these funds will continue. Funds for this year’s 21st Century Grants were available because Washington State still had federal funds from the previous year that had not yet been awarded.
 

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