Two Schools Receive Grants to Continue After-School Programs

By Josh Nelson, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa

Aug. 27–JESUP — Two Northeast Iowa before and after school programs received a boost in the form of state grant money.

The Iowa Department of Education announced Wednesday that the Jesup and Postville school districts received more than $176,000 for their programs as a means of improving student achievement.

About 50 children in the Jesup High School participate in the district’s after school program. That number will increase to at least 80 with the addition of the grant, district officials said. The program will also be extended to about 100 middle school students.

“It’s just some extra educational opportunities for the students that we would not be able to do with the funds that we receive from families choosing to participate in our before and after school program,” Pinion said.

Since part of the grant required schools to demonstrate some measure of being able to sustain the program after the grant runs out, both Jesup and Postville charge on a per pupil basis. Superintendent Sara Pinion said the money would be used to extend scholarships to low-income families for the program. The money will also be used to expand educational enrichment activities like providing homework help or tutoring, she said.

Jesup’s after school program was previously funded by a grant from the 21st Century Learning Center program, which funds after school programs in low-income districts.

The grant allows Postville to have a formal before and after school program, something the school never had before, said Superintendent David Strudthoff. The school district has had an after school program over the years, but it was never clearly defined nor had a secured funding source, Strudthoff said.

About two-thirds of the money will go toward funding enrichment and education programs, Strudthoff said. The remainder goes toward mental health coverage for students and family members, he said. The district signed a contract with a local mental health provider for up to 175 hours of counseling this year.

“At least we were able to start the process and people understand how it works,” Strudthoff said. “We’ve been able to make mistakes and make those corrections, so we know our proposal is a pretty formidable proposal. The program has a good possibility of being successful and having an impact on the kids’ academics.”

About 60 students participate in the after school program now, but that number may drop to around 40 once the school starts charging fees to participate, he said.

Five school districts, including Jesup and Postville, along with four other organizations received $900,000 for before and after school programs overall. The grant money is enough for one year.

Contact Josh Nelson at (319) 291-1565 or josh.nelson@wcfcourier.com.

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