Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
A lot of hard work and effort went into the grant application process, so it was exciting to hear that the county received the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant in the amount of $250,000. The announcement was made at the October 7 Board of Education meeting.
Director of community engagement, school improvement, curriculum and federal programs Stephanie Burns and IT specialist Kristi Hamons gave a presentation about the grant and what it will be used for in the next five years.
Hamons explained that it all began with a survey. One of the questions was how can the school system support you? The parents of guardians could select from 12 items that were listed.
“We’re focusing on the top five – support checking students’ grades; better access to after school programs; stronger communication from school to parents; assistance in interpreting grade level standards and expectations; and after school tutoring for students,” Hamons said.
“We have the perfect answer and that is this grant,” Burns added. “This opportunity will be able to address all five of those areas.”
In the application, Hamons said they asked for $250,000 for a five-year period for middle and high school students to receive after school programming.
They received $250,000 a year for the next five years totaling $1.25 million dollars.
With this funding, the school system will be able to have after school programs at three locations – Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, Marlinton Middle School and Pocahontas County High School.
“We are going to focus on academics, community engagement and parent support,” Hamons said. “We want to increase the number of staff at each site. We can do two to three at each of the three sites. We’re going to expand to include Green Bank Elementary and we are brainstorming how to bring that out to the other elementary schools.”
The plan is to have after school programs four days a week, 29 weeks annually. There will be a student referral system in order for teachers to ensure students who are struggling get the help they need.
The program will start this year and continue through 2030.
