D’Abate Elementary School’s ‘Club’:
After the last bell has run, the learning continues
Hazel Pike, Brown student volunteer, works with her Kindergarten dance class during summer camp at the D'Abate Community School
On a typical weekday afternoon at William D’Abate Elementary School in Providence, half of the students are staying after school. In this case it’s a good thing, because those 189 students are receiving academic enrichment in a program led by Brown University’s Swearer Center for Public Service. The program, known as the D’Abate Community School, is part of the federal 21st Century Community Learning Center initiative.
In partnership with D’Abate teachers and administration, Brown staff and student volunteers have developed and staffed afterschool programming that creates a comprehensive academic experience.
An afterschool program existed at D’Abate before Brown became involved last year. Recognizing the impact that off-hours academic enrichment can have on student learning, the U.S. Department of Education created 21st Century Community Learning Centers to improve student outcomes in districts that struggle to meet academic benchmarks. For the past few years, the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) has funded a learning center at D’Abate, run by two community organizations. During that time, however, student participation fell short of expectations.
Last winter the Swearer Center’s leadership agreed to serve as the Learning Center’s administrative body, and RIDE transferred the existing grant to Swearer. Enrollment rose quickly. In May, RIDE approved a new three-year grant of more than $400,000 to continue the program.
Affectionately called “Club” by D’Abate students, the program’s focus has shifted from offering a few afterschool courses to creating a comprehensive outside-the-school-day environment. According to Schoolmatters.com, 46.2 percent of households in the D’Abate community earned less than $30,000 in 2008. Yet last academic year, D’Abate was one of 10 Providence elementary schools that met its goals for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), an accountability measure set forth under the No Child Left Behind act.
Angel Brown, full-time director of the D’Abate Community School (employed through the Swearer Center), appreciates the impact of the university-school collaboration. “ “Attendance is better, behavior is better, and there is academic improvement,” she says, “especially with the quality of their homework.”
“The Club gives kids a lot of opportunities to speak up about their interests and things they’re involved in,” says Andrea Harris, a program assistant and parent of three D’Abate students. “My son is now doing something productive with his time after school. My daughter’s reading is picking up. Parents ask me, When is the program starting, and how do I sign up?”
In addition to after-school activities, in 2009 for the first time D’Abate students could take part in a summer program. Organized by two Swearer Center staff members and taught almost completely by about 20 Brown students, the summer program offered classes for each elementary grade level, from kindergarten through fifth. For six weeks, five days a week, nearly 200 students took language arts and math along with an elective such as theater or dance. “My kids didn’t go numb over the summer,” says Harris. “They were so ready for the school year.”
Brown notes that when school started this fall, as soon as students saw her they asked, “When is Club starting?” For the duration of the funding, everyone involved in the Club will continue working together to make an exciting difference in the lives of Providence’s children.