The Akron After School program, which serves more than 2,500 elementary school students in the Akron Public Schools, will once again benefit from a longtime financial partnership with the City of Akron.
City Council members voted June 1 to provide the program with $250,000 for general operating support and $50,000 to support a pilot partnership with the Akron Area YMCA in the East Cluster.
Desiree Bolden, who’s run Akron After School since it began 26 years ago, said three years of data collection show that kids who come to the after-school program have the highest attendance in APS’ elementary schools.
The data also showed that students in the four elementary schools in the East Cluster have the highest chronic absenteeism rates in the district, which meant they missed at least 10 percent of instructional time for any reason. That’s equal to about two to three days a month or about 18 to 20 days in a typical school year. This includes Seiberling Community Learning Center, where the rate is 48 percent.
East Cluster students who participate in the after school program have a chronic absenteeism rate of 33 percent.
“It’s still not a great number,” Bolden said, “but it’s a significant percentage less than the school as a whole.”
Under the partnership, Akron After School will work with students during specific blocks of time, while the Y offers after care starting on the first day of school. Child care subsidies and scholarships will be available to help families defray costs.
The after-school program provides a safe place after school to spend time with friends and mentors, to receive homework assistance, including tutoring and support in math and reading, particularly for academically at-risk students. It also provides opportunities for students to explore new interests such as theater and dance.
Akron After School is also considering new transportation solutions to help make sure kids are getting to school. For example, Bolden said students who are enrolled at David Hill CLC and live in the Joy Park area have to walk 1.6 miles each way to school. The district is exploring ways to provide transportation for those families to see if it helps with attendance.
Bolden said parents looking for after-school care for their children should consider the Akron After School program because APS, which is looking at after-school care as a way to boost enrollment, will be “the only district … by 2027 that offers every elementary school having year-round after care.”
The city’s investment in the Akron After School Program is “making a difference in our communities,” she said.
Richelle Wardell, the city’s education and health strategist, told council members during Monday’s Planning and Economic Development meeting that, “when children have something to look forward to after school, they’re more likely to go to school. And when kids are at school, then teachers can do what they do and we have better academic performance.”
“We have been supporting this program that has produced measurable results for 26 years,” Wardell said, adding that “the city has been a steady supporter of this program while other funding is quite volatile.”
Bolden also said that, as part of the district’s College and Career Academies, students interested in becoming elementary-school teachers can do career exploration with the Akron After School program, so “we’re creating a future workforce.”
