10th Anniversary Celebrates Doubling of After School Participation in Boston
Contact: Chris Smith, Boston After School & Beyond
617-345-5322 x180
csmith@bostonbeyond.org
March 11, 2009
Event honors Mayor Menino for leadership role in expanding programs.
Boston–Today Mayor Thomas M. Menino joined more than 350 youth program providers, public officials, school and foundation leaders at the Boston Public Library to celebrate the expansion of after-school programs in Boston and to envision the future of the field.
Organized by Boston After School & Beyond, the event marks ten years since Mayor Menino launched the Boston 2:00-to-6:00 After-School Initiative, the first-in-the-nation city after-school office. Since the launch, the percentage of 6- to 14-year-olds in the Boston Public Schools who participated in after-school programs nearly doubled, from 27% in 1998 to 52% in 2006, according to parent polls. For the current school year, 91 of 95 elementary and middle schools in the Boston Public Schools boast an after-school program, up from just 24 schools in 1998.
“The Boston 2:00-to-6:00 Initiative proved that by providing our neighborhoods with more after-school opportunities in churches and community centers, and even non-profits, more kids stay off the streets and out of trouble,” said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “Through programs like Boston 2:00 to 6:00, we’re providing children with good and positive influences at a very young age when they are the most vulnerable, when it matters most.”
Public and private leaders urged program providers to seize the opportunity to shape the next decade of programs. Boston Superintendent Carol R. Johnson emphasized the importance of offering enrichment and learning time beyond the traditional school day in order to help close the achievement gap. “A six-hour day is simply not enough for many of our students. Our community partners can help us offer additional learning time to engage and motivate students and reinforce the lessons of the school day.”
Rev. Gregory G. Groover, chair of the Boston School Committee and the Black Ministerial Alliance’s education committee, praised program providers for taking advantage of the opportunity to expand programming. “The Mayor made after-school a priority for schools, and you expanded programs beyond the schools into every corner of the community -- through churches, community centers, and non-profit organizations.”
According to information held in BOSTONavigator, the city-wide database of out-of-school time programs serving Boston youth, over 600 organizations offer 1,485 program opportunities in every neighborhood of the city.
Nicholas C. Donahue, president and CEO of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, commended the City of Boston and all of the funder and provider communities for creating the conditions under which programs could thrive. He also expressed hope that the effort can build on a decade of success to reach for even more ambitious goals.
“The strong commitment of all those involved over the past ten years has provided thousands of Boston youth with opportunities to engage in learning during the critical afterschool hours in safe, nurturing environments,” said Donohue. “Our hope is that this effort continues to explore the many ways afterschool programs can increase student outcomes while challenging our collective notion of how, when, and where students learn.”
"Mayor Menino's enduring commitment has enabled community-based after-school programs to expand dramatically, and has set the stage for the next phase of youth development and education reform - expanding learning opportunities at school and in the community, at public facilities such as schools, community centers and libraries and through our extraordinary diversity of non-profit programs and activities," said Chris Gabrieli, chairman of Mass 2020 and Boston After School & Beyond.
Several organizations have expanded programming substantially over the past decade, as a result of the change in policy. "We have doubled the number of youth served to more than 14,000 since the Mayor launched the initiative, and we now operate nine Clubs, adding four shared-space clubs based in elementary and middle schools," said Josh Kraft, Nicholas President and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston. “This has allowed us to provide quality after-school programs to the youth who need us most across the city.”
Over the same time period, the YMCA of Greater Boston also doubled the number of young people enrolled and the number of school sites in which it operates. The Community Music Center of Boston has seen 40% growth in the past 10 years, and now serves over 4,000 Boston Public Schools students annually. Organizations such as BELL and Citizens Schools, which were founded in Boston, have expanded locally and nationally.
Boston After School & Beyond is a public-private partnership charged with supporting, strengthening and expanding Boston out-of-school time system. Boston After School & Beyond was created in 2004 through the merger of the Boston 2:00-to-6:00 After-School Initiative and Boston’s After-School for All Partnership. http://www.bostonbeyond.org/
The Nellie Mae Education Foundation is the largest philanthropy in New England that focuses exclusively on education. The Foundation provides grants and other support to education programs and intermediary organizations in order to stimulate transformative change in public education systems and ensure that all New England’s learners are prepared for success. The Foundation investigates, promotes and supports a greater variety of high-quality educational opportunities that enable all citizens—especially and essentially those from underserved populations—to obtain the skills, knowledge and supports necessary to become civically-engaged, economically self-sufficient, life-long learners. Since it was established in 1998, the Foundation has distributed nearly $83 million in grants. Currently, it primarily provides funding through five strategic initiatives: Early Learning, Pathways to Higher Learning, Time for Learning, Adult Learning, and Systems Building. http://www.nmefdn.org/