21st CCLC Nita M. Lowey Grant

The Medford School District was awarded the 21st CCLC Nita M. Lowey Grant for the Middle School. This grant is for 5 years and started with the 2022-2023 school year. This allows us to provide free activities, clubs, tutoring and various other academic enrichment for before and after school programming at no cost to our families! 

Goals for the MAMS CLC program

1.) Each year, on average 10% of MAMS students will attend CLC.

2.) By the end of Year 3, 55% of at risk students will attend at least 10 days of programming throughout the school year. 

3.)By the end of Year 4, 70% or more of at risk students who attend 60+ hours of CLC programming will demonstrate an improved GPA. 

4.)By the end of Year 3, 90% of middle school families agree that because of the program, their child participated in activities they would not have otherwise had the opportunity to participate in. 

5.) By the end of Year 3, 90% of middle school students agree that because of the program they have opportunities to explore topics that are interesting to them. 

6.) By the end of Year 1, at least 25% of middle school families will participate in 21st CCLC family activities. 

2023 to 2024 Nita M Lowey CCLC Medford Area Middle School Local Evaluation Report

Introduction and Program Description: 

Medford Area Middle School began our formal CCLC Program in September 2022.  This was open and offered to all students in Grades 5 to 8.  We provided before and after school programming Mondays through Fridays beginning in 22-23 and continuing through our current 23-24 school year. Program model included: before and after-school care, extra-curricular clubs, school and family engagement, specially designed tutoring, and social emotional opportunities. 

Our Nita M Lowey CCLC Programming was created to address 3 primary key needs identified through (1) state and local assessment data of students, (2) Youth Risk Behavior Survey results which identified students who did not feel connected to the school and struggled with mental health concerns, and (3) parent and student surveys which identified a lack of adult supervision outside of regular school hours. 

Evaluation Findings:

1. Students Served-Days and Hours attended by MAMS students. Average Daily Attendance was 172 students. 

1. Student Demographics

Race and Ethnicity:  

• 1.08% are Black not of Hispanic origin

• 1.08% are American Indian/Alaskan Native

• 4.68% are Hispanic 

• 90.47% are White not Hispanic Origin

• .18% are Asian 

• 2.52% are two or more races 

Lunch status of students who attend our CCLC program include these percentages:

• 58.35% pay full price

• 10.41% pay reduced price

• 31.24% are free for school lunches

Registration by Special Needs

• 17.09% were identified having a special needs based on their IEP or 504 plan 

Language Proficiency

• 2.7% were limited in English Proficiency 

Gender: 

• Male = 52.34% 

• Female = 47.66% 

Grade Level: 

• Grade 5 = 136 students or 24.46% 

• Grade 6 =  134 students or 24.1%

• Grade 7 = 134 students or 24.1% 

• Grade 8 = 152 students 27.34%

2. Program Operation 

• 6:30 am to 7:30 am 

• 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm 

• Average Daily Attendance: 172 students 

• Average Weekly Attendance: 297 

3. Staffing 

• CCLC Director = Joseph A. Greget

• CCLC Building Administration = Jodi Butler and Tara Abel 

• 1 Full-Time CCLC Coordinator = Deanna Murphy

• 2 CCLC Supervisors each night

• 1-2 High School Students who provide nightly CLC monitoring 

• 3-4 CCLC Supervisors each morning

• 1 CCLC Tutoring each morning and afternoon

• MAMS Secretary helps with some data collection and reporting  

• During the course of the 23-24 school year we have a variety of school and non-school staff professionals who helped us implement CCLC activities such as club night, special theme nights, child care, and/or tutoring.  This included:

  • 19 school day teachers

  • 13 non-teaching staff

  • 13 community partners 

  •  3 community members

Progress Toward Objectives (Required: At least one outcome reported for each of the four statewide goals) 

State Goal 1: All programs will provide a stable, safe, and supportive environment to meet the needs of the target population 

Smart Goal:By the end of Year 3, 55% of attendees in grades 5-8 who are considered at risk as demonstrated by (1) previous year’s spring DEWS data, and/or (2) in danger of course failure, and/or (3) are below a 2.5 GPA, and/or (4) in need of mental health support, will attend at least ten days of programming throughout the year.
Result: 333 at risk students attended MAMS CLC, with 207 of those at risk students attending 10 or more days (62%). Goal met.

Smart Goal: Each Year on average at least 10% of MAMS students will attend the CARES CLC school program

Result: Total Number of students that attended at least 1 time: 557( 94%) Goal met. 

State Goal 2: (Academic Enrichment) Programs will challenge youth to develop as learners

Smart Goal: By the end of Year 4 - 70% or more of at-risk students in grades 5-8 who attend 60+ hours of CLC programming will demonstrate an improved GPA.

Result: We had 89 at-risk students attend 60 plus hours of CLC in the 2023-2024 school year. 

39 students had an improvement in GPA (46%). Goal not met

State Goal 3: (Youth Development and Other Skills Necessary for Overall Success): Programs will support the development of other skills necessary for success

Smart Goal: By the end of Year 3, 90% of middle school students agree that because of the program, they have opportunities to explore topics that are interesting to them.
Result: Results will be available once surveys are received from Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) at UW-Madison

Smart Goal: By the end of Year 3, 90% of middle school families agree that because of the program, their child participated in activities they would not have otherwise had the opportunity to participate in. 

Result: Results will be available once surveys are received from Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) at UW-Madison

State Goal 4: (Family Engagement): Programs will engage families and the broader community in support of student learning

Smart Goal: By the end of Year 1, at least 25% of middle school families will participate in CLC family activities. Total number of MAMS families is 535. Family activities hosted 172 families. 

Result: MAMS had 32% of families participate. Goal met.

Conclusions and Recommendations: 

The addition of the Nita M Lowey CCLC Grant for Medford Area Middle School has been a significant improvement and option for our students and families.  We provided hundreds of children and families with: before and after school adult supervision; extra-curricular clubs to engage all types of interests and learners; alignment of academic and social emotional learning between the school day and out of school time to help address academic delays; and addressed social emotional and mental health factors of students.

We will continue to offer expanded hours of before and after-school care, clubs, special events, school and family engagement, extra tutoring services, and social emotional activities in order to engage more students and families in Out of School Time programming.  Our Out of School Time programming has now reached more children and families than ever before. Students of all backgrounds, socio-economic status, and interest/ability levels are all engaged in our variety of programming options like never before.  We will continue to explore expanding library hours, number of minutes which students attend programming, offering a variety of clubs to engage all learners, and continuing to provide structured academic, social-emotional, and functional opportunities and skill development for all students to benefit from. 

Specific School and Family Engagement OST programming included:

September = Walk Together for Suicide and Mental Health Awareness  

October = Family Night at Ms Marsha’s Pumpkin Patch, F

November = Be Kind to Your Mind Event with Miller and Mike Comedy and Juggling Show

December = Polar Express Book and Movie Event 

January = Super Mario Brothers Book and Movie Event and Bowling Bonanza for Families 

February = Minnie and Mickey’s Valentine Party at Broadway Theatre

March = Family Literacy Game Night featuring Matt Eicheldinger - Author of Matt Sprouts and the Curse of the 10 Broken Toes and Jim Lenz the Magic Guy. 

April = Night of HOPE 

Specific Clubs included: 

4H Cooking Courses, Small Group Tutoring, PBL stations, GeoBee, Baking, Math Tutoring, Reading Tutoring, Morning Tutoring, What’s the Buzz, Volleyball AM & PM, Athletic Training, Curling, Rock Climbing, Strength and Fitness, Book Club, Rescue Readers, 3D Pen, Robotics, Tech Ed, Beatboxing, Agriculture, Chess and Board Games, Craft Club, Crochet Club, Dungeons & Dragons, E-Sports, Homework Help, Lure Building, Gardening, Red Cross, Babysitting, Counseling, and Art Club

The Nita M Lowey CCLC Grant dollars and initiative has helped us impact our Medford Area Middle School in a meaningful way not seen before at this level.  Hundreds of children and families are impacted daily and throughout the year by this program.  We will continue to make a difference not only in the next upcoming 4 years of this grant, but with a sustainable plan after grant completion.  We are excited and grateful about this opportunity to the Nita M Lowey CCLC Grant Program and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.