Denver’s promotion of quality after school and summer opportunities is a national model. Its creation of funding streams, assessment of programs, and coordination of efforts is helping to ensure that programs across the city are of high quality, accessible, and sustainable.
Collaborative Efforts to Advance Quality Programming
The
Lights on After School (LOAS) Initiative, is a partnership between the Mayor’s Office for Education and Children,
Denver Public Schools Foundation, and
Mile High United Way, working closely with the
Denver Public Schools Department of Extended Learning and Community Schools.
LOAS leverages resources to fund after school programs in Denver public elementary and middle schools through a competitive grant process and targeted support for specific programs, neighborhood centers, and summer camps. LOAS also provides a professional development training series free of charge to all youth service providers in Denver and invests resources for program evaluation to demonstrate the positive impacts of participation in after school programs.
The
Denver Quality Afterschool Connection (DQUAC) is a coalition of youth service providers working together to promote quality out-of-school time programming for youth. The Mayor’s Office for Education and Children serves on DQUAC's leadership team. For more information, visit
http://www.dquac.org.
The Community Schools Planning Group (CSPG) is a partnership among government agencies, the school district, and non-profits focused on supporting and strengthening collaborative efforts at community school sites that support students and their families by providing comprehensive out-of-school time programming, adult education and family support services.
For more information download Afterschool Programs and More – Promoting Comprehensive Neighborhood Center (PDF) and CSPG (PDF).