Middle School AfterZone Initiative

The Providence After School Alliance (PASA) is working with over 100 community partners to expand and improve after school opportunities for the youth of Providence, RI. To reach middle school youth, PASA has created a model called an AfterZone, which operates as a neighborhood campus of after school opportunities. PASA's goal is to increase youth participation in safe, healthy learning environments that contribute to school and life success by increasing school attendance and improving behavior, social and emotional skills. The AfterZones offer a variety of quality arts, recreation, and learning programs designed to attract those youth most likely to drop out of school. Of the 5,400 middle school youth in Providence, PASA served 1,300 youth in 6 low performing schools last year. OJJDP funds will enable PASA to expand to serve 2,000 youth in 7 schools, add a summer session and add new programs geared to serve the most disengaged youth ' those who are absent 20+ days, have disciplinary issues and are behind academically. Enrollment and participation will be tracked daily with a web-based tracking tool and youth outcomes will be measured through an evaluation comparing AfterZone participants with non participants to assess PASA's impact on improving key student outcomes.
NCA/NCF