NEWARK, NJ — Catherine Wilson, president and CEO of United Way of Greater Newark, announced May 12 the relaunch of “Newark Thrives!” — the “Out-of-School Time” network for the city of Newark — by opening the first “Accelerating Summer Learning Opportunities” grants application process for program providers within the Newark Thrives! network. The United We Thrive! relaunch campaign will focus on combating academic and summer learning loss by investing in accelerated summer learning opportunities for youth and implementing a quality improvement system that includes access to assessments and evaluations, capacity-building initiatives, and professional development for youth program providers.
With this relaunch, and by opening these grants, UWGN is committing to investing in OST program providers through a reinvestment fund for summer learning. Currently there are more than 250 OST after-school and summer programs in the Newark Thrives! network serving more than 20,000 young people.
“Academic learning loss over the summer has always been a concern for youth, but especially for youth in urban communities who have fewer Out-of-School Time opportunities; this issue has just been further amplified by the pandemic,” Wilson said. “Studies have shown that children in urban communities are one academic year behind other children in more affluent neighborhoods. The United We Thrive! relaunch campaign is going to focus on providing additional funds and accelerating summer learning opportunities, and we couldn’t be more excited to make this announcement.”
“This relaunch will allow us to enhance the quality work already underway in our Out-of-School Time programs. Through our reassessments of and investments in quality OST programs, we can create capacity-building initiatives, offer professional development opportunities and provide grants that accelerate summer learning opportunities,” said Traymanesha Lamy, director of education at UWGN. “Our goal is to implement strategies supported by Every Hour Counts and the National Summer Learning Association to measure the impact of our new quality improvement system and share our findings on the local, state, and national level.”
To be eligible for the $1,000 to $5,000 grants, program providers must: be a member of the Newark Thrives! OST Network with a signed impact agreement; serve youth from the Greater Newark community in a four- to six-week summer learning experience; and be able to provide a final grant report that includes evaluation and assessment findings, testimonials, and images highlighting the summer learning experience.
For more information about applying, visit https://uwnewark.org/newark-thrives-mini-grant/.
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