District reviews summer enrollment and 21st Century grant targets as attendance challenges persist

JP presented a summary of the district’s summer programs and end-of-year data tied to the 21st Century grant.

Enrollment this summer was reported as 46 students at the elementary school, 37 at the middle school and 13 at the high school. Programming includes rotation-based activity blocks at the elementary level, bilingual art and STEAM offerings taught by high-school interns, middle-school theme camps (including soccer and a nature-based partner program), and a high-school transitions program focused on nature and composting. JP said mindfulness and self-regulation activities have been a highlight across levels.

JP described the 21st Century grant’s participation targets and reporting rules: 40% of program participants must be economically disadvantaged and enrollment must approximate the school’s proportions of special education and English-language learners. JP said the district is meeting targets at the elementary level and largely at middle school but is not meeting high-school goals, in part because older students have athletics, internships or jobs and because the state’s method of counting economic disadvantage requires families to have applied for state aid.

JP also explained the grant’s “dosage hours” requirement (the program must provide approximately 400 hours of programming annually and an average per-student dosage of 100 hours), and said the district will consider alternate, district-funded approaches for high-school students whose schedules prevent meeting 21st Century participation rules.