Tips for new sub-grantees
Know your grant proposal.
The grant proposal your agency wrote is your guide/roadmap for programming and operation. Keep it on hand, and be familiar with it. Share the grant with relevant staff members such as site coordinators, staff and school administration, particularly the Goals, Objectives and activities table. Activities and programs should align with the proposal's objectives and descriptives.
This is more than an FCAT program.
21st CCLC funding is designed to provide a safe out of school environment for academic and personal enrichment. This means focus on embedded, disguised learning projects. Teachers and activities should be engaging and fun. Think of the students as the "clients." Respect their time. This program is optional, not required, so the activities need to be attractive, as well as effective.
es, ultimately we want to improve academic achievement, but we want to provide opportunities to succeed for those students who have not been successful in the regular day school - so more of the same is not likely to produce success. In your after school program set your students up to succeed. Provide activities that they will enjoy doing where they can simulataneously learn so that they can master the skills they have been having difficulty with and then they can translate that back into improvement in the regular day school.
Activities and requirements do not have to be mutually exclusive.
For example, you do not necessarily need to do an hour of reading, an hour of math, and an hour of character education separately. Activities can be combined - for instance, building a community garden can potentially incorporate science, math, reading, community service and character education components.
Be proactive about data collection and attendance tracking.
Who will be in charge of taking attendance on a daily basis? Who will enter the data? Also, if you have activities that require pre-tests, make sure that these are given early in the program year so that you can have that baseline data to compare to later test scores.
Have safety plans in place and practice them.
If no nurse is on site, how will you handle medical emergencies at each site? If you use the schools safety plan, be sure that evacuation sites are available after school. Make sure that staff are aware of the plans. Also, have detailed plans for off -site activities if appropriate.
Update site schedules.
Be sure that your site schedule reflects what is going on during the program, where the students are, and is easy to follow. Also, be aware that you are allowed to alter your schedule if necessary in terms of activity times or activities, etc.
Have regular site staff meetings.
And ensure that all staff understand that the 21st CCLC program is intended to be a supportive learning environment. This means respect for all participants: this means staff, parents and students. Provide ideas for engaging curriculum for your staff and encourage them to be creative and have fun teaching! This enthusiasm will translate to students.
Hire staff that will be able to provide creative engaging activities for students.
Also, it is not recommended that a full-time teacher work full-time in the program. It is allowable, however, burn-out can occur. To supplement teachers, consider outside contractors for specialized activities (such as African drums, dance, art, karate, yoga, theatre, etc).
Keep track of expenditures throughout the year so you know how much money you have.
You are allowed to submit budget amendments if necessary, but ideally these should be kept to a minimum. However, if funds need to be moved do so in a timely fashion so that allocations can be used towards activities for the ongoing year. (ie: You cannot spend funds at the very end of the fiscal year because you would not be able to demonstrate active use of throughout the program year).
Linking with the school day is a must.
How will you accomplish this piece on a regular basis? Review your proposal for your initial plan of action.
Communication is key.
Keep all parties in the loop! Parents, school, students, staff, community and partners! Once your program gets established do some PR - call your local paper and have them come visit. This can be especially effective if you have a special event.
Beyond Family Involvement.
How will you serve and involve the family members of 21st CCLC students? Refer to your original proposal to determine your original plan of action.
Organization and planning are key to a successful program.
Site Coordinators are encouraged to keep binders to hold the various program components. As your program progresses, put all relevant information in the binder, such as flyers, press, pictures, field trip info, curriculum, etc. This will make it easy for you to showcase your program to visitors, evaluators, auditors, and potential partners.
Look at the resource website provided on the 21st CCLC Florida home site.
The resource page includes multiple sites that have free enriching lesson plans and helpful information for after school programs. You don't need to reinvent the wheel! See what information is already available and might work for your program. Also, join the discussion board to interact with other programs around the state and share ideas.
Don't be afraid to ask.
If you have further questions regarding your new 21st CCLC grant contact your Technical Assistance consultant!