Location: Claremont, New Hampshire
Cost: $843,500 (2005 fiscal year budget)
Located in an agricultural community of about 12,000 people, the Claremont School District runs an after-school program for local children and teenagers.
Initially using federal 21st Century Community Learning Center funds, the district joined with Yale University’s Schools of the 21st Century initiative in 2000 to provide school-based services to children and families. In 2005, as the federal grant was about to expire, voters at the annual town meeting approved funding the program through the school district, which provides a combination of after-school services and family support programs.
Called Family School Connections, the program offers homework help and enrichment activities before and after school at four sites to more than 600 students in grades K to12. The program provides school breakfast, supports the salary of a parent educator and pays for accredited vacation camps. It also offers teen centers at two community sites. One is a drop-in center with daily homework help and activities; the other is a music program where teens practice together and create their own music. Other services include dental care and a childcare resource and referral service.
More than half of the program’s funding comes from two sources. School district funds account for $271,000, while student fees provide another $245,000. By consistently being charged tuition, users have grown accustomed to this fee-for-service model. The rest of the funding comes from private donations ($100,000), other grants ($127,500) and contracts ($100,000).
The school district benefits from a variety of partners, such as the University of New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, and the New Hampshire Workforce Opportunity Council.
www.sau6.k12.nh.us
Updated January, 2009.
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