Y tries to fill reading need
Interim home for afterschool program with Boys & Girls Club under repair
GREENWICH — Kids ran around playing tag one Tuesday afternoon with big smiles plastered on their faces. Once they got their zoomies out, they could move to another station to color, play air hockey or sit in the book nook and read.
This is part of the kids’ daily schedule during the school week as part of the YMCA of Greenwich’s new After School Enrichment Program that kicked off earlier this year.
“Our primary goal in designing the program is both to supplement and enrich (the students’) educational, but also social-emotional learning,” said Julia Borges, camp and child care director for the YMCA of Greenwich.
The program is open to students in kindergarten through fifth grade and it came at good time, said Greenwich Public Schools Superintendent Toni Jones in a statement. Recently, the Boys and Girls Club had to temporarily close its afterschool program because of construction.
“It was greatly needed for our families who did not have other after-care options,” Jones said.
GPS and the YMCA teamed up to provide bus services from five elementary schools — Julian Curtiss School, Hamilton Avenue School, North Street School, Cos Cob School and New Lebanon School — to the YMCA for after-school participants, which removes “logistical barriers, facilitating access to quality after-school care for families,” according to a YMCA statement.
Right now, the program has around 25 participants and is open to both YMCA members and non-members, Borges said. However, if a student does not attend one of the schools with bus services, they will need transportation to the YMCA.
From playing games to doing homework to swimming, the students have access to a “breadth of ... activities they wouldn’t have access to,” Bor
ges said.
Along with that, the YMCA of Greenwich partnered with the Greenwich United Way to offer its Reading Champions program that links a volunteer tutor and student for one-on-one work to help them improve their reading fluency.
Robert Moore, vice president of community impact for the Greenwich United Way, said a goal of Reading Champions is “making reading fun.”
“We understand that there’s pretty serious academic goals tied to what we’re doing, but at the same time ... we want to build community around learning,” Moore said.
In order to create the After School Enrichment Program, the YMCA of Greenwich partnered with community stakeholders including Star Mountain Capital’s Charitable Foundation, a New York City nonprofit founded by Brett Hickey. Hickey is a YMCA of Greenwich board member.
“Star Mountain Capital’s Charitable Foundation has played a pivotal role by generously funding essential equipment to provide an engaging and educational environment for children in the Greenwich community,” according to the YMCA of Greenwich’s statement.
The cost of the after-school program is $595 per month, according to the program’s website. However, more than 68 percent of the program’s current attendees are on financial aid, according to the YMCA statement. The average financial award is for about 80 percent of the program and some students are on full scholarships, Borges said.
The after-school program also offers free weekend meals for participants in need through Filling in the Blanks, a Norwalkbased nonprofit that fights childhood hunger.
“We are serving families who would otherwise not have child care for these students after school,” Borges said. “We’re very proud to meet the families regardless of what their situation is.”
While this is considered a pilot program, Borges said the team is already talking about next year and their “intention is absolutely to continue the program.”
She added that staff, parents and students are giving insight into what they like and don’t like about the program to see how it
can improve.
“We’re definitely testing out some different aspects of the program this semester, seeing
what works, what doesn’t . ... We’re constantly asking what are your suggestions? What are you liking?” Borges said.