21st Century Community Learning Centers

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21^st CCLC) program supports the creation of community learning centers that provide academic enrichment opportunities during non-school hours for children, particularly students who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools. The program helps students meet state and local student standards in core academic subjects, such as reading and math; offers students a broad array of enrichment activities that can complement their regular academic programs; and offers literacy and other educational services to the families of participating children.  Funds are appropriated annually by Congress and the made available through competitive Grant applications by State Departments of Education.

The Minnesota Department of Education has administered the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program since 2002. The purpose of the program is to establish or expand community learning centers that provide students with enrichment opportunities during non-school hours or periods when school is not in session, such as before and after school or during summer recess.

An effective community learning center engages schools and communities to address a common goal. These partnerships provide students with a broad array of academic supports, enrichment programs and school engagement opportunities designed to complement their regular academic program and help students achieve, connect and thrive.

Cohort 7

Rochester Public Schools and Boys & Girls Club of Rochester currently lead an effort to serve local youth with year-round, high quality youth development programming as part of Cohort 7 of the Nita. M Lowey 21^st Century Community learning Centers grant.

There are ten 21^st Century Community Learning Centers which make up the Cohort. Six of these Centers are at school sites: our four middle schools (Kellogg, Willow Creek, John Adams and Friedell) and two of our elementary community schools (Riverside and Gage).

Four centers are community-based at Boys & Girls Club of Rochester, Rochester International Youth Organization, Somali-American Social Services Association (formerly Somalia Rebuild Organization), and Somali Kulan Community.

21st Century Community Learning Center Grant funds provide equitable access for students who could not otherwise access high quality programs. These funds are braided with other, related funding sources, to make the most effective use of available dollars. Grant partners actively align their programming to support students' needs to learn the skills that will open doors to the future; allow them to connect with other people; give them knowledge and real-world experiences that lead to higher level thinking and strong interpersonal skills; allow them become the adaptable, collaborative, and resilient global citizens we need for our world to sustain and prosper.

This Cohort of the grant was successfully renewed and will run from September 2020 to August 2023.

21st Century Community Learning Centers – Program Directors/Coordinators School-based Locations
Riverside Elementary	Hillary Kremers	hikremers@rochesterschools.org	507-328-3700
Gage Elementary	Ron Chieves	rocheives@rochesterschools.org	507-328-3400
Friedell Middle School	Katie Lenz	kalenz@rochesterschools.org	507-328-5650
John Adams Middle School	Yahye Ahmed	yaahmed@rochesterschools.org	507-328-5700
Kellogg Middle School	Adam Hair	adhair@rochesterschools.org	507-328-5800
Willow Creek Middle School	Phil Hartman	phhartman@rochesterschools.org	507-328-5900

 

21st Century Community Learning Centers – Program Directors/Coordinators Community-based Locations
Boys & Girls Club of Rochester	Amy Thompson	athompson@bgclubroch.org	507-287-3200
Rochester International Youth Organization	Mustafa Sharif	mustafa@riyoweb.org
Somali-American Social Services Association	Omar Nur	info@sassamn.org
Somali Kulan Community	Abdi Roble	abdi.roble@charter.com

 

Cohort 8

Rochester Public Schools in partnership with Boys and Girls Club of Rochester successfully competed for funds to provide year-round, high quality afterschool programming in Cohort 8 of the Nita M. Lowery 21^st Century Community Learning Centers grant.

The initial award was made to for three years starting September 1, 2019 and going through to August 31, 2022. We would be hopeful of an extension to grant funding beyond this date.

Our high school student population was the primary target for this Cohort of the grant and programs were established at the Rochester Alternative Learning Center, John Marshall High School, Century High School, Warsan Community Center and at our partner location Boys’ and Girls Club of Rochester.

Since starting programming, and with the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, Warsan Community Center was unable to sustain programming and we have since formed a new partnership in the Meadow Park neighborhood with Family Service Rochester.

Programming has continued to operate at the remaining centers though Covid-19 restrictions have proved challenging throughout the 18 months since we were awarded the grant.

21st Century Community Learning Center – Program Coordinators
Boys & Girls Club	Leticia Flores	lflores@bgclubroch.org	507-287-3200
Rochester ALC	Kevin Lynch Katie Sloan	kelynch2@rochesterschools.org kasloan@rochesterschools.org	507-328-3999
John Marshall HS	Kirk Thompson	kithompson@rochesterschools.org	507-328-5402
Century HS	TBD		507-328-5100
Family Service Rochester/Meadow Park	Kristina Ramaker	kramaker@familyservicerochester.org

A young person’s development is strengthened when positive reinforcement comes from many partners working together—from parents, families and caregivers who feel valued by the program and can better support their children at home, to communities that are strengthened by a positive image of youth making valuable contributions to our world.

Thus, Family Engagement and Family Services are key to the success of 21st Century Community Learning Centers and their programs. 21st Century Community Learning Centers work to engage families in their programming through events and advisory bodies; provide services for families such as English Language literacy, financial awareness and college and career advice and provide enrichment activities.

We know from talking to parents that they want better outcomes for their children in academics, enrichment and in life. Parents look for those outcomes through our 21st Century Community Learning Centers programs and the opportunities they provide.

Useful links for Families:

Sign up for District-wide communication
View District Flyers on Peachjar
Prepare for College
English Language & Family Literacy
Financial Literacy
21^st CCLC Data Privacy Notice

2020-21 Grant Year

The Covid-19 pandemic hit our programs hard, just as with the school day, but we responded with some innovative programming and activities thanks to input from our students, families and 21^st Century Community Learning Center staff.

Our focus has always remained on the needs of the students in our program and their families. We believe our staff have responded to those needs as they have been identified e.g. to provide safe, social spaces for meeting and conversation, to provide activities that are not always based on technology, and to give families opportunities to work together!

Our summer plans are now underway and we hope to link with the school district’s Summer of Discovery to provide our students with quality enrichments, alongside any academics they may need and the opportunity to return in-person where feasible.

As we head towards the end of the school year and open up again for summer, we hope to see our students, who have stuck with us through distance learning, come and experience our summer offerings.

2021-22 Grant Year

Both cohort 7 and cohort 8 of our 21^st Century Community Learning Center grant will operate in the 2021-22 grant year, which runs from September 1 to August 31.

This will be the third year of cohort 8 of our grant which is focused on our high school age students and we would be hoping to have this cohort extended for a further three years in the spring of 2022.

Our cohort 7 centers and partners are will be coming in to the fifth year of the grant, having been awarded a three-year extension in 2019.  We are delighted to be able to continue offering programs both in District schools and in the community under this funding.

Collaboration and Partnerships

We are working to implement new software, R-STORY (formerly Cityspan), to help us with our data collection and reporting needs within the 21^st Century grant. One of the main drivers of this implementation is changes to the Government Performance and Reporting Act (GPRA) which sets the rules for our grant reporting.

We continue to work with community partners who have the same aspirations for our students as we do in the 21^st Century grant. These partners include United Way of Olmstead County, Cradle to Career, Rochester Public Library, Lutheran Social Services, Rochester Family Y, IBM, Ignite After School and many more.

Links: