This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
The Pennsylvania recipients of a major federal grant program aimed at supporting at-risk youth were announced today by Gov. Corbett and his wife, Susan.
Sixty-four school districts and community-based organizations across the state will receive $23 million in three-year 21st Century Community Learning Centers grants. The grants will help support out-of-school time programs that give academic support to students from underperfoming schools and high-poverty areas, who are at risk of dropping out or disengaging from school.
More than a third of that money will go to 23 grantees based in Philadelphia, a mix of community organizations and charter schools. (See the list of Philadelphia grantees below.)
But who was not a grantee this year? The School District of Philadelphia. The reason, according to Vicki Ellis, the District’s strategic partnerships director, is that the District did not apply, opting instead to play the role of coordinator.
"We assisted and directed dozens of community-based organizations, which has been our strategy of late," said Ellis. "Nearly all of the organizations listed for Philadelphia, with the exception of the charter school grantees, will be operating in District schools."
The 21st Century grants, she said, are the second-largest funding stream (after the Department of Human Services) for the city’s massive effort to organize its out-of-school-time programs, a project that Ellis helps manage.
"We are thrilled so many of our partners experienced in providing quality afterschool programming were funded. This means more afterschool activities for more students."
The District, Ellis said, will provide the Notebook with the complete list of grantees and their partnering schools soon.
As a requirement of the grant, the districts, schools, or local organizations must offer students enrichment activities that they might not receive in school or at home.
Philadelphia-based grant recipients
After School All Starts Philadelphia, $325,550
Boys Latin Charter School of Philadelphia, $400,000
Church of St. Andrew and St. Monica, $399,100
Congreso de Latinos Unidos, $400,000
Drexel University, $305,775
Education Works, $400,000
Episcopal Community Services, $195,000
Foundations, $400,000
Freire Charter School, $400,000
Independence Charter School, $210,000
Lutheran Children and Family Services, $306,338
Maritime Academy Charter School, $400,000
Netter Center for Community Partnerships, $399,672
Oxford Circle Christian Community Development Association of Philadelphia, $52,499
Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership, $400,000
Philadelphia Electrical and Technical Charter School, $400,000
Public Health Management Corp., $400,000
Sunrise of Philadelphia, $360,000
The Salvation Army, $386,004
To Our Children’s Future with Health, $360,000
Truebright Science Academy Charter School, $400,000
Universal Daroff Charter School, $400,000
Young Scholars Frederick Douglass Charter School, $381,400