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Grant money available to enhance youth
education
Grant applications for the 21st
Century Community Learning Centers Program are being accepted from schools,
community organizations and local entities that work together to enhance youth
education.
The purpose of these grants is to
strengthen after-school, Saturday and summer programs that support student
learning and to help students meet performance standards in core academic
subjects. The grants help sponsoring organizations provide activities that
complement regular academic programs to students who attend high poverty
schools or schools identified for school improvement.
Grants will go to sponsors who submit
plans for Out-of-School-Time Programs designed to provide the expanded student
learning opportunities outlined in Title VI, Part B. The state Department of
Education will award approximately 15 grants. In order to qualify for the
grants, the applicant must be serving school districts in which 40 percent or
more of students qualify for free and reduced meals. The grants range from
$50,000 to $100,000 per year for three to five years.
Authorized under Title IV, Part B, of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child
Left Behind Act of 2001, the law’s specific purposes are to:
(1) Provide
opportunities for academic enrichment, including tutorial services, to help
students (particularly students in high-poverty areas) meet state and local
student performance standards in core academic subjects such as reading and
mathematics;
(2) Offer
students a broad array of additional services, programs and activities such as
youth development activities; drug and violence prevention programs;
counseling programs; art, music and recreation programs; technology education
programs and character education programs, designed to reinforce and
complement participating students’ regular academic programs; and
(3) Offer
literacy and related educational development opportunities to the families of
students served by community learning centers.
Applications are available at
http://www.state.sd.us/deca/CSCF/21cent/index.htm.
Applicants must submit the application, along with four copies of it. To be
eligible for the grants, applications must be received or postmarked by Sept.
10, 2004.
For more information, contact Sue Burgard,
Department of Education, at (605) 773-5238 or
sue.burgard@state.sd.us.
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