FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 18, 2005

Texas Education Agency awards $625,000 to Center ISD

Four schools in Center will soon bear a new distinction. Thanks to a grant from the Texas Education Agency, the schools also will be host sites for Texas 21st Century Community Learning Centers. The $625,000 grant may be renewed in subsequent years to total $2.67 million.

The purpose of Texas 21st Century Community Learning Centers is to provide opportunities for school districts to establish or expand after-school activities that offer academic enrichment, including tutorial services to help children meet state and local academic achievement standards. The Academic Centers for Enrichment, or ACE Centers, also will integrate programs and activities designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program, such as wellness education, conflict resolution and cultural development.

F.L. Moffett principal Margie Blount and Dr. Lupe Guerrero, Stephen F. Austin State University representative for external relations, co-wrote the grant with assistance from the Center ISD administration.

“The Center superintendent and School Board were highly motivated to seek the funding in order to increase and enhance their capacity to improve and enrich the achievement of their students,” Guerrero said. “The Office of Sponsored Programs and the College of Education at SFA provided technical support and assistance in preparing the grant application.”

Kelly Rodgers, Center superintendent, expressed appreciation for the support provided by the site administrators and said that several SFA academic units will be involved in providing services to accomplish the grant’s intent.

“Interns from the Division of Nursing will be involved in community service at the ACE Centers by teaching students about current wellness issues: obesity, nutrition, drug abuse, diabetes, and mental health issues,” he said.

SFA faculty from the College of Education will be involved in providing professional development for teachers in academic enrichment strategies in the area of literacy, and professional development planning also is under way with SFA’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics to increase the capacity of schools to deliver high quality, standards-based instruction after school.

Other agencies that have pledged support for the program include Panola College’s Shelby College Center, Piney Woods Area Health Education Center and East Texas Community Health Services. Sen. Todd Staples and the Center Chamber of Commerce provided letters of support for the grant application.

After-school learning opportunities will be provided to 450 students. The program will serve 150 students on the Moffett Primary School and Center Middle School campuses and 75 students on the Center Elementary and Center Intermediate campuses. An eight-week summer session will be offered.

“All programming strategies and activities are designed to both enrich learning and to improve the achievement of students through extended learning opportunities after school in safe and engaging environments,” Blount said. “In order to ensure successful implementation, the four sites are involved in deliberate planning with the involvement of school administrators, campus staffs, district administrators and with technical assistance from a Texas Education Agency liaison.”

Center students are not the only ones who will benefit from the grant. Opportunities for literacy and educational development, including English language and GED instruction, will be available to family members of participating students. Blount said a calendar of literacy and training opportunities will be scheduled for parents of students participating in the center activities.

“Parents who are employed may not be able to attend activities during the day and may opt to attend evening programming,” Blount said. “Saturday morning parent education and training sessions will be coordinated with students’ youth development and academic enrichment activities to provide families and their students opportunities to attend center programming simultaneously.”

The grant is funded at a rate of $625,262 a year for three years. Fourth- and fifth-year funding is at a rate of 80 percent and 60 percent, respectively. The grant is performance based, and continued funding is contingent on yearly progress in attaining the enrichment and achievement-improvement goals.