The Philadelphia School District is far along in the process of shutting down Truebright Academy Charter, but that didn’t stop the state from awarding it a three-year 21st Century grant for afterschool programming.
Historically, Philadelphia’s mix of “out-of-school time” programs was run with little coordination or sharing of expertise. All that is changing. With support from the Wallace Foundation, advocates are attempting to map every program in the city, collect useful details about each, and create a profile of the children and youth who attend.
With drastic cutbacks to school district summer programs, city resources played a critical role in plugging the gaps.
An innovative program works on the premise that in poor communities, parents can provide key reading support outside of the school day.