Proposed 2018-19 Federal Budget eliminates funding for afterschool President Trump recently released his first federal budget proposal, in which he proposed elimination of the only dedicated source of federal funding for afterschool and summer programs, the 21st Century Community Learning Center Program.…
Jeff Cole of Nebraska Children and the Beyond School Bells collaboration were recently selected as the first recipient of the Ron Raikes Innovation for Opportunity Award. The award was given at a statewide ARKSARBEN recognition event at the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney on…
Collective For Youth, an organization based in Omaha, is doing an outstanding job working with the Omaha Public School district to bring high-quality Expanded Learning Opportunities (afterschool and summer programming) to 29 schools. Students receive healthy meals, strategic individualized tutoring,…
The Communities Together Can program in Columbus was developed to serve the high number of working families in the central Nebraska community. At first, the primary need it served was child care – a safe, structured and supervised place for…
In The Afterschool Alliance’s 2014 America After 3PM report, Nebraska came in #8, handily outperforming 42 other states in the Expanded Learning Opportunities we offer our students once the bell rings. Here’s a visual breakdown of why Nebraska performs so…
An Expanded Learning Opportunity—or ELO—is a high-quality afterschool or summer educational experience that takes place outside the context of the regular school day. These hands-on, experiential, enriching chances to learn that build on, but don’t duplicate, what students are learning during the…
In Nebraska, 76.7% of families have all available parents working, according to the American Community Survey. With every adult on call to make ends meet, out-of-school care is a major challenge in Nebraska. In fact, it’s the reason many community-based…
An Expanded Learning Opportunity—or ELO—is a high-quality afterschool or summer educational experience that takes place outside the context of the regular school day. These hands-on, experiential, enriching chances to learn that build on, but don’t duplicate, what students are learning during the…
What if the biggest opportunity for improvement in education happens outside of the school day? National Education reform discussions focus on a search for an elusive magic bullet that will somehow transform the traditional 8am–3pm school day—and eliminate our educational achievement gaps. Decades of experience…
In a ceremony on August 13, 2014, Governor Dave Heineman and First Lady Sally Ganem proclaimed August to be Parental Involvement Month. “Working together, parents and teachers can maximize students’ strengths and reinforce each other’s efforts to help children succeed…
Growing the Good Life 