Four years ago, the federal government established the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant program to encourage the creation of community schools. The program created "a major shift in federally funded after-school programs," says Sam Piha, managing director of San Francisco's Beacon Initiative.

Schools which take part, working in partnership with community organizations like the YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs, become community centers where children, youth, parents, grandparents, and neighbors can take classes, learn English, play basketball, use computers, and participate in a range of other activities that build "social capital," ties between people and groups. Kids get safe places to go, educational and recreational programs—and stronger families and communities to grow up in.

Below are profiles of three of California's schools-as-community-centers.

Three Rivers: The Heritage Project
"Since there are no sidewalks in Three Rivers, people approach me on the dirt roads, asking when the next computer class will be offered," says Barbara Merline. Her classes for adults and kids are part of the Heritage Project at Three Rivers Elementary in Three Rivers (Tulare County). During the day, Merline helps the students learn basic computer skills. In the evening she teaches adult classes on Web site design, Windows, and Word. Merline also provides PowerPoint training to students who enter the countywide "CyberQuest" competition with student-produced slide show presentations about newsworthy topics of their choice. And after school, Merline is there helping students with homework, research, and library skills.

"Keeping the library and computer facilities open after regular hours is a real service to the kids and their parents," says Merline. "Parents know their children are supervised and this creates less stress in their lives."

"It's an after-school program that is more than just free play. These kids are getting special learning opportunities where they can pick up an actual skill," adds Sharon Seltzer. She helped write the proposal that won the Heritage Project a 21st Century Learning Centers grant, and she's a participant in one of Merline's computer classes.

But the Heritage Project is not just an after-school program. It's a community education center for the entire town. Drawing on local talent in this small, unincorporated town, the center offers classes that range from drama and dance to computers and anthropology, to attract a wide range of people, from kids to seniors.

"The classes are very inexpensive or free, so many people have the opportunity to learn," says Seltzer. "Barbara taught us how to animate our e-mails and we made greeting cards. We touched on the outer limits of Word that everyone has on their home computer but may not know how to access and use."

Dyann Graber, a mother of two sons attending Three Rivers Elementary, has also attended classes at the Heritage Project. Her eight- and five-year-old sons enjoyed the yoga and park ranger classes; the entire family drove to the coast to whale-watch and took evening outings to learn about the stars.

An advantage of the Heritage Project, says Graber, is "that I can introduce my kids to their neighbors, and they have an opportunity to meet home-schooled kids that they would never get to meet during a normal school day." And for herself, she appreciates the women's self-defense class offered at the center.

The most ambitious program of the Heritage Project, People in Action, aims to "teach the adults how to interact with the kids in a partnership, rather than a dictatorship," says its director, Lynn Goodwin. People in Action was created by the Three Rivers Community Service District, which is the town's main public body, since there's no official city council. People in Action, a committee of six adults and twelve teens, goes door-to-door to find out what programs residents want, then hosts public events. One of its first projects was a community movie night, when hundreds of people came out to watch a free outdoor movie. The group has also sponsored town meetings and public lectures.

People in Action, says Goodwin, gives young people the chance to make meaningful contributions to their surroundings and learn social advocacy, meeting facilitation, and public speaking. It also helps bring the community together to support kids, a major goal of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program.

San Francisco: Jean Parker Beacon School
For newly arrived immigrants in San Francisco's Chinatown, the Jean Parker Beacon School offers a valuable opportunity to keep in touch with their families back home: It provides computers with Chinese-language characters and access to the Internet.

"It can be quite intimidating to learn new computer skills at the same time that you have to learn new a new language," says Lisa Lee, parent coordinator of the Jean Parker Beacon Community Center. "The familiar keyboard helps to bridge the gap. It's a great way to teach computer, Internet, and e-mail skills."

The Chinatown Beacon Center has been operating at the Jean Parker Elementary School for five years. This year it's serving some 200 children with a Saturday arts-and-recreation program and an after-school program from 3 to 6 p.m. The center is funded by the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Children, Youth and their Families, the San Francisco Unified School District, and private donors. It's one of eight Beacon Centers in the city, the only one in an elementary school.

"Space is at a premium in Chinatown and here we have 15 to 20 classrooms, a library, three playgrounds, and a gym." says youth coordinator Alison Satake. Built around a fenced, south-facing courtyard, the school provides protection from the winds and busy Broadway street traffic. It includes a full-stage auditorium, a music room, and a community kitchen.

The center also offers ESL classes and "a very strong parent support group," says Satake. There's a tutoring program in which volunteers work with elementary school students one-on-one. Often families move to other neighborhoods by the time their children are teenagers, Satake says. But many of the teenagers come back to the Chinatown Beacon Center to tutor younger kids. "There's a strong sense of community," she says.

And many Chinatown community agencies use the Beacon Center's space for classes. "This helps us build relationships with long-time organizations in Chinatown," Satake adds. Partnerships with agencies like the YMCA and Cameron House, a community center, bring in important programs, including a summer camp for kids.

Sometimes the Beacon Center takes whole families on field trips. "Imagine the logistics of getting an entire family with two working parents who may or may not speak English well, with no car and little spare time, to take a trip!" says Lee. "Nevertheless, the parents and kids who take the Beacon Center's overnight trip to Yosemite National Park certainly feel more connected to our country as a whole."

Modesto: Bret Harte Elementary School
Imagine the look on a seven-year-old's face when, on a summertime trip, they see and feel snow for the very first time in their lives," says Jorge Perez, academic case manager at Bret Harte Elementary School's Community Learning Center. The center runs summer field trips to places like the Sierras and the Monterey Bay Aquarium—places that many of the kids and parents would never be able to go without these school/community center-sponsored trips, say Perez.

Bret Harte is one of three Modesto elementary schools that together received almost $600,000 last year from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. So far, more than 500 students and families in the three schools have participated in activities, including academic coaching and afterschool care for kids, as well as classes for parents in computer skills and ESL, funded partly by the 21st Century program and partly by the county's welfare-to-work program.

Bret Harte School is a natural community center. It's centrally located, and most parents and kids walk to it. There is no public library within walking distance, so kids and parents rely on the Bret Harte library. But involvement in the program depends most of all on word-of-mouth communication, says Perez.

"I grew up in Salinas, in a community that was very similar to the community that I now work in," says Perez, now 27. "When I talk to parents and kids, at recess or in classroom presentations, about our programs and services, I think they are more willing to listen because I really understand their issues and can speak their language."

Participants value the program, not just as an educational and recreational center, but also as a safe place for children and adults. "Many parents consider it to be the safest place in this area," says Perez. The school has a gated security system to keep potential troublemakers out, but for the most part, he adds, the school is safe because local young people, including gang members, respect what the community center is trying to achieve. According to John Ervine of the Modesto Unified School District, the three schools with 21st Century Learning Center programs saw an increase in test scores, grades, and attendance and a drop in the number of suspensions.

Resources

• 21st Century Community Learning Centers program officer for California, Traci Martens, 415-556-4181, Traci.Martens@ed.gov; for on-line information also consult www.gse.uci.edu/afterschool/us
• National Community Education Association (Fairfax, VA), 703-359-8973
• Federal Web site with information on after-school programs
• North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, publisher of Beyond the Bell: A Toolkit for Creating After School Programs, 800-356-2735
• Generations United, 202-638-1263

This story was adapted from the September/October 2001 issue of The Children's Advocate.