Westbury Public Schools recently received a 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant from the New York State Department of Education, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Constance Clark. Among 89 school districts in New York State receiving the grant, including five on Long Island, Westbury received the fifth largest dollar amount outside New York City. A total of $4.5 million was awarded to the district to be used over five years.

The award will enable the district to fund and institute extracurricular activities and programs for Westbury's youth in the district's six schools, and will be administered by Westbury Public Schools' new program, After School Sports, Enrichment and Technology, better known as "A.S.S.E.T."

Project activities will include arts and sports and will be implemented at each school. Administrators will individually plan programs with input from several established A.S.S.E.T. partners: The Long Island Tennis and Sports Foundation, The Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation, The North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center, Nassau BOCES, Grass Roots Hip Hop, The Fencing Center of Long Island, Junior Achievement, and the Cornell Cooperative Extension.

A.S.S.E.T. programs and activities have been designed with a non-competitive atmosphere to promote self-esteem and pride among students and generate an overall feeling of personal achievement and success. Activities offered will include digital theater arts, soccer, tennis, dance, hockey, chess, fencing, and cultural arts, and will take place before and after school, as well as over the summer.

Grant money will also be used for the purchase of computer equipment for early childhood programs for grades K - 2; to fund academic and cultural trips, artists in residence, early college awareness including visits to local colleges; and activities to increase parental involvement in their children's education.

In preparation for the launch of the A.S.S.E.T. program, district administrators held a kickoff meeting with A.S.S.E.T. partners to discuss arts and sports programs and to make decisions on incorporating these activities into the district's schools.

According to a study conducted at Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, KY by evaluation specialist Dr. Marco A. Munoz, (Outcome-Based Community-Schools Partnerships: The Impact of the After-School Programs on Non-Academic and Academic Indicators 2002), consistent student attendance in after-school programs has continually been a large predictor of student success and improvement during the school day. Dr. Munoz' research on the impact of after school programs on various non-cognitive and cognitive measures indicated a positive relationship between participation in after-school programs and improved school attendance. He also found a positive correlation between higher after-school program participation, academic performance and frequency of school suspensions.

The New York State Department of Education placed high priority on 21st Century Program proposals that serve middle-level students, since recent statewide assessment data reveal significant achievement gaps in that group. Programs selected for funding link academic enrichment with positive youth development and family literacy. Funded programs were also chosen because they reflect a balance of academic enrichment and youth development activities in the context of interagency collaboration. About 6,800 rural and inner-city public schools in 1,420 communities - in collaboration with other public and nonprofit agencies, organizations, local businesses, post-secondary institutions, scientific/cultural and other community entities - are now participating as 21st Century Community Learning Centers.