The city of Jacksonville is revamping its after school and summer camp options after a two-year study.
Jacksonville education and business groups, including the city, Duval County Public Schools, the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, The Community Foundation of Northeast Florida, JAX Chamber, the Jacksonville Children’s Commission and many youth foundations, have formed a coalition called “Jax Shines” to take on the task of improving the offerings.
Jacksonville expanded and studied programs through the help of a Wallace Foundation grant. Foundation data show low-income students who attended summer programs for 20 days or more benefited in several ways, including gains in reading and math.
Now, the city is partnering with the school district and nonprofits to tackle suggestions from the study like smaller classes with certified teachers for all of the city's out-of-school programs.
The Jacksonville Children’s Commission is in charge of administering funds for after school and summer programs. CEO John Heymann said the commission is upping its criteria for providers to qualify.
“We want to serve more kids — increased access — and we want to do a better job serving them. That’s quality,” he said.
Jax Shines coalition partners have created an overarching vision and action plan including creating a shared framework for program quality, collecting quality data and building a shared data system and to create a structure for coordination and advocacy.
And while just over 1/5 of kids from the poorest areas are attending afterschool programs, a Jacksonville Public Education Fund analysis shows half of parents in those areas want their child in a program. J-PEF also recommends catering more programs to boys’ interests, because most attendees are girls, as well as providing more programs for older students.
Reporter Lindsey Kilbride can be reached at lkilbride@wjct.org, 904-358-6359 or on Twitter at@lindskilbride
