The Albuquerque Community School Project recently received a $3.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help expand literacy-based, after-school and summer programs in 10 historic neighborhoods in Albuquerque.
The program is part of the Albuquerque Public Schools UNM Partnership that provides assistance to local schools.
"The University wrote the grant proposal for APS," said Sam Howarth, senior policy analyst for Community Learning and Public Service at UNM and co-author of the grant. "UNM is working on a contract basis with the program."
The three-year grant will serve seven APS schools. Goals for the programs include forming a network of members working closely with the schools to engage students in cultural and linguistic challenges.
"Each individual school will have a budget to provide materials for learning, and each community-school partnership will adhere to the problems that each community chooses for the program," Howarth said. "In other words, each will have a unique plan, and the project is built to feed the needs of the area."
UNM staff holds the majority of the executive positions in the program.
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"Programs have been going on for the last four years; two of them are literacy-based," said Peter Espinoza, principal of Kirtland Elementary. "We want to provide a safe environment for children after school. This gives them a bigger umbrella to keep safe."
At each school, the rate of community involvement within the program must be at least 51 percent. The basis of the proposal was giving the neighborhoods a voice in helping address what children are lacking.
"The program will help between 300-400 students a year," Howarth said. "Each individual program will tie itself in to what students are learning in class. It will give more options in various learning styles."
The grant money was dispersed July 1, but the community involvement began before that. In the South Broadway neighborhood, volunteers have been working for years on literacy-based programs.
"In areas like ours, we realize that we must give children high expectations in spite of the daily challenges," said Diana Dorn-Jones, executive director of United South Broadway Corp.
Dorn-Jones, who has worked with similar programs, said that the community stays in close contact with the schools and gives children an alternative to augment out-of-school time. She said that after-school programs are well attended, but the real surprise is the attendance of the summer programs.
"For the past couple of years, we have had 112 students enrolled in the summer programs," Dorn-Jones said. "We have found one more vehicle to revitalize an entire neighborhood from the foundation up."
AmeriCorps also is closely involved with the teaching and mentoring involved in the programs.
"Most of the students that volunteer their time aren't education majors," Howarth said. "There is a plethora of diversity among the volunteers."
Parents also are given access to English as a Second Language programs, General Education Diploma instruction, technology training and literacy learning approaches.
Howarth said that at the end of the three-year cycle, a nonprofit organization will be developed to supervise the program.
"The communities need to show the pride that exists and make that an asset," Dorn-Jones said. "The 21st Century grant broadens the picture for us. AmeriCorps is provided by UNM. And what UNM provides is the expertise of faculty, volunteers and professors."
The seven schools are: Dolores Gonzales, East San Jose, Eugene Field, Kirtland, Lowell, Longfellow and Reginald Chavez. The areas are: Kirtland, Kirtland Addition, East San Jose, Wells Park, Saw Mill, Barelas, Santa Barbara, Martinez Town, South Broadway and University Heights.
