The 2003-2004 School Year
This year Open Doors was recognized locally and nationally for our exciting, out-of-school time middle school programs. We won our state’s competition for the AASA Civic Star Award and were invited to compete in this national competition, which recognizes innovative school- community programs. From our supportive and informative Community-School Advisory Council and Student Advisors to our dedicated after school staff and parents, Open Doors has taken on a life of its own. To date, we have reached over 400 of Franklin Central’s middle school students with after school, weekend and vacation programs, allowing these youth to try new things and make new friends while they are learning.
Our dynamic site leaders have been very successful in recruiting instructors to teach interesting programs to the students, while also coordinating safe, fun, and effective after school environments. District-wide, we employ an average of 40 of Franklin Central’s very dedicated teachers, para professionals, teacher assistants and other district employees to teach innovative programs, and tutor students. In response to all of this, students, parents and instructors have, for the most part, responded positively to their Open Doors experiences.
During the 03-04 school year students had spent 12,015 of their hours in programs. Our very popular full-day Summer Camps served 64 students our first summer, in 2003, and 81 students last summer. Over 80% of these students’ parents returned our end-of-summer surveys, displaying enthusiastic support. After school programs have gained overwhelming acceptance and approval in our schools. The total hours that students have participated in after school programs has increased by almost 70% between the our first session of ever offering programs, during the Fall of 2003, and our last session of the ’03-’04 school year (from 1335 hours of students participating in the fall program to 3258 hours of students participating in the late spring program).
While the schools remain essential in providing superb programming for students, community collaborations within Open Doors are also important in how we serve students. These collaborations range from class-teaching arrangements to sponsoring students in programs. For example, one of our community advisors is heading up a sustainability strategy to recruit local business sponsors to help fund our programs but also teaches exercise classes at our schools and at his wife’s business. Individual programs also engage local collaboration. For example, our literacy and science program Mystery Files has had visiting speakers who included forensic scientists, private investigators, and a police dog, while a collaboration with Franklin County Caring Communities and the Missisquoi Mentoring Project allowed some of the students of these classes to attend a Mystery Cruise aboard the Spirit of Ethan Allen III. Our summer programs also engage community around serving students. Just last summer, almost half of our programs were taught by or collaborated with local businesses and organizations, which included St. Albans Parks and Recreation, BFA’s Northwest Technical Center, Dukes Fitness, and Avalon Tri-Academy.
