After The Bell
A Before and After School Program of the Norwalk Public Schools, in partnership with the Norwalk Education Foundation
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VISION:
The After the Bell afterschool pilot programs at Kendall and Rowayton Schools will enable Norwalk Public Schools and its partners to develop an affordable, high quality and financially sustainable after school program model that can demonstrate positive outcomes for children and schools. Best-practices will then be extended system-wide in the elementary schools of the Norwalk Public Schools.
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OBJECTIVES:
1) Support academic achievement
• Provide activities to support each school’s improvement plan
• Design after school programming using information on student needs and progress
• Employ a site coordinator to serve as a bridge between school day and before/after school and hire teachers to provide academic supports
2) Provide a wide variety of high quality activities and enrichment programs
• Involve community partners to increase children’s experiential development
• Increase students' interests, creativity and capabilities contributing to higher self-esteem
3) Provide a safe, nurturing environment with high quality staff
• Hire qualified staff that engage children & contribute to a positive school climate
• Provide professional development for staff
• Foster positive communication with families
• Increase parent and student engagement with school
TARGETS:
1) All After The Bell students receive support to contribute towards improved academic achievement (homework help, skill building, identification of academic and behavioral issues, etc.) and 50% of students’ teachers report that after school is contributing toward improved academic performance.
2) 80% of After The Bell students are involved in extra-curricular activities after school, and 50% show strong interest in an activity and/or higher self-esteem.
3) Create a welcoming environment for all in after school, and at least 50% of school community stakeholders surveyed report After The Bell program contributing to an improved climate.
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Current Enrollment: 150 students, 49% qualify for free and reduced lunch
Sample Classes: Morning Breakfast Bunch, Kids in the Kitchen, Arts and Crafts, Board Games, Puzzles, Free-Play Time, Inside-Card Sharks, Fiber Arts, Fun Fridays at the Library, Book Club, Spanish, Japanese, Newsletter Club, Power Hour, Children’s Pilates, Dancing with the Stars, Overtime Athletics
Funding Partners: The United Way of Norwalk and Wilton, Perrin Family Foundation, GE Capital, Fairfield County Community Foundation, FOCUS Foundation, The Daphne Seybolt Culpeper Foundation, The Norwalk Children's Foundation, The Edward S. Moore Foundation |
Power Hour Literacy Program
Power Hour is a free after school literacy program offered to elementary children, taught by Norwalk Public School teachers and instructional aides.
It is based on the Afterschool KidzLit program which is used nationwide. Power Hour increases young people’s motivation to read, builds their literacy skills and is particularly designed to be used in after school settings.
The program also develops core values of helpfulness, fairness, personal responsibility and respect for others.
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Sample Power Hour Classes
• Tar Beach - paper quilts, with each square representing a different place they would like to fly to.
• The Frog Prince Continued - readers' theater.
• ChickaChickaBoomBoom - children made alphabet letters and a tree, then put the letters onto the tree.
• No David! - illustrated favorite part & discussed David's feelings at different points in the story.
• Hello Ocean - painted a sea then made the creatures from the story and put them onto their sea.
• New Year’s "Resolution Boxes".
• Chinese New Year history & dragon puppets.
• Super Dog the Heart of a Hero, Brave Irene, and Hugger to the Rescue - created character flowers which display great character traits.
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Outcomes
• 1360 HOURS of Power Hour were taught in 11 elementary schools from October 2008 through June 2009 (13% increase over last year)
• 421 STUDENTS were enrolled in Power Hour (64% increase over last year)
• 63 TEACHERS taught Power Hour (34% increase over last year)
• 11 POWER HOUR LIAISONS coordinated each school’s program
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Teachers Enjoy Power Hour
"I continue to find joy in my work with these kids!"
"This has been a good year with Power Hour. The students jump up when I enter the gym and give me hugs."
"NEF has provided Fox Run’s AM Reading Academy with the ability to continue its mission of supporting reading with a before school program.
Without the backing of the NEF and its contributors the program would not be sustainable.
The staff, parents, and students at Fox Run are grateful for the recognition and funding NEF provides.
We at Fox Run applaud NEF’s tireless efforts to help our program and the other programs that serve the students in our community." |
Parents Love Power Hour
"I do believe that PH is critical to my son’s achievement and really desire him to continue in this course. Thanks for everything you do!” “Please do not discontinue this program. It is vital to students."
"Power Hour is very well run and we think as many children as possible should be included in the program."
"We really love this program. We love the approach with stories and activities. It reinforces the enjoyment of reading which is crucial in keeping a child interested in learning."
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Students Love Power Hour
"Awesome... helpful... encouraging... the best place to be if you're mad... a good place to think... delightful... a wonderful place to be."
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Middle School University
MSU is a program for middle school students held at Norwalk Community College.
Students choose the topics and are engaged in their own education through fun and meaningful courses like Create Your Own Video Game, Movie-Making, Cooking, and Comedy.
MSU helps students make the connection between success in school today and their future success as adults through the study of dynamic, relevant subjects taught by inspiring instructors.
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Program Goals:
- Use student-relevant topics to strengthen weekday curriculum with an emphasis on strong thinking skills (problem-solving, communication, accessing information, ability to present work).
- Each student will realize individual improvements as assessed by a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods in academics, social/emotional (leadership) and character development areas.
- Develop courses that demonstrate an Integrated Teaching Approach and can serve as a model for future use in Norwalk classrooms by Norwalk teachers.
- Develop courses that exhibit & promote best practices in business: democratic process, collaborative environment and creativity.
- Foster individual hopes to pursue higher learning
- Expose students to collegiate environment to broaden experiences
Funding partners: EMCOR Group, Inc.
Number of children who benefit: 100
Evaluation: Track individual child growth through a variety of assessment methods to include academics, social/emotional (leadership) and character development components. Evaluation methods include student projects, grades, attendance, mastery test scores, teacher observation, self-reflection journals or oral questions, and surveys to students, instructors, and parents.
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Video Game: Luke Forshaw
Luke Forshaw is a teacher in the Darien Public School System.
He is a long time gamer who works as a technology integration specialist and is a doctoral student at the Teacher’s College of Columbia University.
You can find out more about him at www.lukeforshaw.com.
Click here to see some student games.
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Comedy: Tony Republicano
Tony Republicano has appeared in television commercials, daytime dramas, more than 35 theatrical productions, and several feature films.
He has more than 15 years of performance and teaching experience in artist-in-residence programs in pubic and private schools in the tri-state area,
and has instructed workshops for The New England Academy of Theatre and Curtain Call. He is a graduate of the New York Academy of Theatrical Arts.
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Cooking: Jeff Trombetta
Chef Jeff Trombetta is a culinary arts professor at Norwalk Community College who has been in the hospitality/culinary arts industry for more than 30 years.
He is a consultant to the team nutrition program of the Connecticut Education Department and was formerly executive chef of the Yale University Dining Services.
He also holds a culinary arts degree from the Culinary Institute of America and a business degree from Syracuse University.
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Movie Making: Kyle Seaburg
Kyle Seaburg has incorporated film work into his social studies classes for the past 14 years at Norwalk High School where he is an advisor to the student government
and the head coach of the field hockey and junior varsity baseball teams.
(check out this student PSA video)
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Digital Art After School Series
The Digital Suite of after school enrichment programs is for middle school and high school students, including:
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Garageband
NEF provided all 4 middle schools with keyboards and other audio equipment needed to offer GarageBand to students.
GarageBand is a software application that allows students to create a piece of music on an Apple Macintosh computer.
GarageBand is offered by NEF as an after school program.
Funding Partners: JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Citibank Foundation
(Listen to some student musician tracks)
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Digital Photography
NEF offers a 6 week after school digital photography class to students, to explore scenes from their lives through photography.
At the end of the session, an art show is presented for family and friends.
Funding Partners: GE Commercial Finance
(Check out some student artist photos)
Visit photo teacher Elisa Keogh's website |
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"We want to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child."
--- George Bernard Shaw
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