FRESH Afterschool

A Fresh – and Effective – Approach to After School

FRESH Afterschool Initiative

Hard Outcomes: Improve academic achievement while also offering resources and support to overcome the social, behavioral, health and safety challenges facing middle-school aged youth living in poverty. Attendance and participation rates have increased since the initiative’s inception, with reading and math proficiency scores each seeing double-digit percentage jumps.

Objectives: Team with daytime teachers to ensure lesson plans and program efforts reinforce key learning objectives. Connect with parents and cross-pollinate with other initiatives to help stabilize the entire family. Develop “Fun, Relevant, Enriching, Scholastic, and Holistic” learning experiences to engage students.

Approach: Partner with local school districts to provide at least ten hours of after-school programming to 50+ students. Create experiential learning activities that build resiliency and decision-making skills. Support the entire family to resolve other crises, find resources and seek stability.

Evidence: This initiative has achieved strong advances in attendance rates and double-digit increases in math and reading proficiency scores since its inception. Numerous educational studies demonstrate that at-risk children benefit from longer, more enriching school days.