CAFE

CAFÉ is entering FY19 serving the same population from FY18, it will continue its programming for FARM students previously identified by Thomas Stone Elementary. In addition, Café will work closely with staff in the apartment complex to identify families that are already on FARM and or experiencing a lack of access to food. Staff will distribute literature throughout the apartment complex for those that are on free/reduced lunch to participate in program.
In FY18, CAFÉ fell short of meeting its target “better off” measure of 80% of “students that had below a C in Reading or Math have improved by the 3rd quarter “.  Program monitors working with CAFÉ providing technical assistance found that the after school program participants were in fact improving their grades in those subject areas and making advancements in the allotted time frame; just not by 3 grade letters.
 Barriers stemmed from:
•    Language barrier; predominately Spanish speaking community, and the staff was not bilingual
•    Shortage of tutors
•    Tutors were not available during the times needed

Technical assistance solutions agreed on:
•    Continuing to implement nutrition classes and encouraging parents and youth to participate in the community garden.
•    Café has reached out to another organization and found volunteer tutors that have a schedule more aligned with CAFÉ’s program
•    A tracking sheet was developed for the tutors to communicate with the teachers
 

The Maryland School Assessment 2015 report card shows that 13% of students in Prince George’s County were absent 20 or more days during the academic year as opposed to 10.3% for the state overall. The data indicate that absenteeism may be associated with poor academic performance in Prince George’s County. Whereas across the state 82% of students in grades 3 through 8 scored at or above proficiency in reading, only 74.9% did so in Prince George’s County. Similarly, only 57.4% of Prince George’s students in grades 3 through 8 scored at or above proficiency in math but the proportion across the state was 69.6%.[1]

[1] Maryland State Department of Education.

Provides safe, structured learning and enriching activities that promote the physical, emotional, cognitive and social development for school age youth after normal school hours. Activities include homework assistance, tutoring in math and language arts, computer lab, music instruction in drumming and creative arts. Also offers a full day Saturday Academy.

School aged children/youth living in Prince George's County ages 6-14.

Maryland Out of School Time Network; Maryland State Music Teachers Assessment; Youth Program Quality Assessment (YPQA); STEAM