A + After School Program
Location: Wautoma, Wisconsin
Cost: $354,250 (2008-2009 fiscal year budget)
Elementary-, middle- and high school students who attend the A+ After School Program in Wautoma, Wisconsin, receive homework help, followed by recreation and enrichment activities of the students’ choice. The A+ Program is committed to providing services to all students, but offer additional academic support to young people who are at risk of failing classes. With this inclusive approach, the program registers about 500 students with an average daily attendance of 225. The program runs five days a week at each of the district’s four schools for about two and a half hours, with a shorter program on Fridays.
Seed money from the federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers program laid the foundation for services in Wautoma, a rural area of central Wisconsin. The A+ Program now receives some $200,000, or about 56 percent of the $354,250 in annual revenue, from this source. The school district provides another $122,000, about 20 percent of which comes from local property tax while the rest is from other school district funds. The Community Service Fund was established by Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction and authorizes local school boards to levy additional property tax to support programs that serve the community and are outside the regular school curriculum. Participant fees account for about $15,000 annually. A+ obtains the remainder of funding through county support, its own fund raising efforts, which include a direct mail appeal, and the United Way—a total of about $17,000.
The A+ Program uses paid full-time staff as well as 50 paid part-time staff members, including teachers and high school students. All staffers are required to attend in-service training offered by the district at the start of the school year. Volunteers are also key and include a local naturalist, piano teacher and fly-fisherman, all of who play a major part in the enrichment programming.
The A+ Programs also have participated in the Continuous Program Improvement process established by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. This process involves extensive internal and external program assessments that guide program development.
Updated January, 2009.
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