December 2004

Baltimore’s After School Strategy has always subscribed to the belief that after school programs should meet children where they are. The result is an impressive network of community, faith, art and recreation based programming. Building on the lessons learned from this approach and responding to the evolving landscape of after school, Baltimore has added a school-based component to their citywide After School Strategy: Baltimore’s Out of School Time (BOOST) Initiative.

BOOST is designed to reach more students, be cost effective and link more closely to the school day.  It was launched last month by Mayor Martin O’Malley, Baltimore City Public School System CEO Dr. Bonnie Copeland, the Reason to Believe Enterprise and the Safe and Sound Campaign, who hope to expand the program to every school in the city by 2008.  Programs are now underway at 15 schools, with plans currently underway to expand to at least 5 more schools by January. 

The unique public-private partnership is initially funded by its partners. Mayor O’Malley says the city will designate about $1 million in new money raised through the city’s recently passed tax package. Another $1 million will be provided by Reason to Believe, a group of foundations and businesses that have been raising money in the past two years for programs to improve life for the city’s poor and most vulnerable residents. The school district provides the space and custodial services, and the program providers also contribute funds.

“BOOST is school-based after-school programs run by community based organizations in collaboration with schools and staffed by a combination of school and after school staff,” says Erin Coleman, after-school strategist for Safe and Sound. “It is designed to provide all children with opportunities beyond the school day to become successful school, family and community members.”

Coleman says the programs will have four components: academics, mastery and skill development, physical fitness/recreation/nutrition, and community involvement.

Everene Johnson-Turner, special assistant in the Baltimore City School District, says programs will be tailored to the needs of individual schools. “The academic portion might include a math focus, or programs for students for whom English is a second language,” she says.

The partnership that created BOOST is unusual. It came about because mutual trust was cultivated among the parties and because investments in after-school programming can meet the mutually held goals of increased academic achievement and improved quality of life generally in the city.

“BOOST represents an evolution,” says Safe and Sound’s Coleman. “Baltimore’s After School Strategy is wide ranging, and while there have been some programs located in schools, there hasn’t been such a formal and comprehensive relationship with the school district before now.”

Dr. Copeland, who began her tenure of CEO of the city schools in July 2003, brought a strong belief in community involvement to her post, says Johnson-Turner. “The school district leadership believes that the city’s kids belong to all of us, not just the schools,” says Johnson-Turner. “We welcome community partnerships – as long as they are based on high standards, quality programs, and what’s best for children.”

Coleman notes that the city’s After- School Strategy, fostered by Safe and Sound, now has a long track record. “We have a whole network of community based organizations primed, and a big missing piece had been the schools” she says. “The school district realized how organized and well developed the Strategy is, that it’s based on standards. They saw the overall caliber of the effort.”

Safe and Sound, and The After-School Institute it established, solidified the relationship through thoughtful shepherding of the process. “We worked with Dr. Copeland’s office and with CBOs in order to get input from throughout the system,” Coleman says. “We developed a model and then had a lot of back-and-forth with the schools and CBOs to mold it. We met weekly with the schools on the implementation, and addressed whatever technical assistance needs they had.”

Now that it’s established, Coleman says a major focus for the future will be to attract the funding to maintain and expand BOOST. The Department of Education’s 21st Century Learning Centers initiative, Supplemental Education Services and Title I funding are potential sources.

Another goal is to increase the availability of after-school programming in high schools. “BOOST is a model for elementary and middle schools,” says Coleman. “But Safe and Sound’s focus also involves older youth. We created ‘BOOST High’, a three days-a-week program and have awarded a couple to high schools. High school is a totally different formula, but we’ll work with a high school committee to mold BOOST High and learn more.”

(For more information on this website about Baltimore’s Safe and Sound Campaign, click here.  For more articles on this website about after-school programming, click here.)