San Francisco Afterschool For All

Transcription

1 San Francisco Afterschool For All RESOURCE GUIDE Everything you ever wanted to know (and more!) about how to run a fabulous afterschool or summer program. Revised and updated from the 2007 How To Create A Successful After School Program Resource Guide published by SFUSD s ExCEL After School Programs. October

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4 Acknowledgements The original Resource Guide put out by the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) School Health Programs Department (SHPD) ExCEL After School Programs acknowledged the following people and organizations for their contributions to the guide: Project Consultant and Writer: Reva Bhatia and Anne Clifford ExCEL After School Program District Coordinators: Ling Busche, Andrea Bustamante, Andrea Collaco, Jessica Frazier, Linda Lovelace, Eva Jo Meyers, Jennifer Quevedo, Jason Riggs, Cristen Robson, and Ali Vieira-Metzler Contributing Writers, ExCEL After School Program Mentors: Shawn Brown Richmond District Neighborhood Center, Laura Chavez Stonestown YMCA, Mateo Chavez After School Enrichment Program, Emily Formosa Presidio YMCA, Socorro Gamboa Horace Mann After School Collaborative, Jenny Arcilla Gonzalez Chinatown Beacon Center, Ryan Keeley Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center, Lacie Stiewing and Sean Yeung Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center ExCEL After School Program Schools and Community Partners: Thank you to all of our schools and community partners. San Francisco Unified School District Staff: Gwen Chan Interim Superintendent, Trish Bascom Associate Superintendent of Student Support Services, Meyla Ruwin Director, School Health Programs Department, Lilian Capuli SHPD Budget Analyst, and all other SHPD staff and partners. San Francisco Afterschool For All, in turn, would like to acknowledge the following people and organizations for their contributions to the revised resource guide: Project Consultant and Writer: Eva Jo Meyers Afterschool For All Advisory Council Members: Bill Vanark, Playworks Michael Andolina, Jamestown Community Center Pam Pradachith-Demler, Opportunity Impact Deidre Hayden, Support for Families of Children with Disabilities Miranda Martin, Parents Advisory Council Ellie Rossiter, Parents for Public Schoolsi Nayad Abrahamian, Youth Advisory Council Simon Lee, Growth & Learning Opportunities Laurie Meschke, SF State University Toby Wiley, SF Recreation and Park Department Kathleen White, City College of SF Sandra Naughton, DCYF Michele Rutherford, SF Human Services Agency Alan Broussard, SFUSD Yashica Crawford, SFUSD Kevin Truitt, SFUSD Hedy Chang, Parents of Public Schools Natasha Hoehn, Silver Giving Foundation Afterschool For All Data Sharing Workgroup Members: Ali Metzler, SF Beacon Initiative Chris Krupa, GLO Inc Erica Chan, SFUSD Eva Gabel Sippola, America Scores Bay Area Jennifer Bloomer, Spark Jessica Manta-Meyer, Public Profit Michelle Jaques-Menengaz, Grattan ExCEL ASP Sandra Naughton, DCYF Pam Pradachith-Demler, Opportunity Impact Shawn Brown, Richmond Village Beacon Staff: Jessie Mandle, DCYF Melanie Hopson, AFA Resource Guide Design: Melanie G. Mogollan and Eva Jo Meyers For more information, visit:

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6 How To Use This Guide WELCOME! Introduction to the San Francisco Afterschool For All Initiative The San Francisco Afterschool for All (SF AFA) effort aims to create a citywide afterschool system that addresses challenges and fosters collaboration to achieve a central goal: providing quality afterschool programs for all elementary and middle school children. Guiding the Afterschool for All Initiative is the Afterschool for All Advisory Council, composed of representatives of the school district, city departments, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, funders, and parents. The Afterschool for All effort is led by the SF Department of Children, Youth & Their Families and the SF Unified School District. For more information visit sfafterschoolforallblogspot.com As part of SF AFA s efforts to increase the quality of programming provided to children and youth in San Francisco, the initiative put time and resources behind revising the How to Create A Successful After School Program: A Resource Guide originally put out by the San Francisco Unified School District in This revised Resource Guide is not just another binder to put on your shelf. It s something SF AFA hopes you will turn to throughout the school year and summer! Who this Guide is For: Types of Out of School Time Programs in San Francisco While the original Resource Guide was designed specifically for afterschool programs funded through ExCEL and located at school sites, the newly revised guide has a much broader scope. The revised Guide is for you if you run a program that meets even just one of the criteria below: K-8 program Community-based afterschool program at your agency s site School based program (regardless of the funding source) Drop-in program Fee-based program Free program DCYF or ExCEL funded program Summer program Tutoring program Recreation program Comprehensive program In fact, the only types of programs this Guide does not explicitly cover are high school programs such as workforce development programs or credit-recovery programs, although much of the material may still be applicable to these types of programs. i - 2

7 How To Use This Guide INTRODUCING The SF AFA Quality Self Assessment Tool (QSA) and Core Competencies The revised Resource Guide is now divided into 12 Chapters. Each of the first 11 Chapters aligns directly with the San Francisco Afterschool For All Quality Self Assessment Tool. (The twelfth and final Chapter addresses summer programming and aligns to the SF AFA quality standards for summer programming). What is the QSA? The QSA is an instrument designed to help you and your staff assess the quality of your program. It was developed by the San Francisco Afterschool For All initiative to help programs measure the quality of their programs against the eleven elements of program quality identified by the California After School Network. The tool aims to help you figure out where your programs strengths are, and where you need to grow. The QSA consists of 11 Sections. Each Section is broken out into 3-6 elements, each of which includes indicators to help you understand what a low quality, approaching quality, and quality program looks like. The complete QSA can be found in the Appendix of this Guide, or can be downloaded from the AFA website at sfafterschoolforall.blogspot.com In addition to being aligned with the QSA, each Chapter of this Guide outlines which of the SF Afterschool For All Core Competencies for Afterschool Staff are covered in that chapter. What are the AFA Core Competencies for Afterschool Staff? Core competencies are the abilities of staff to apply specific knowledge and skills to their professional practice. In other words, the core competencies are the key ingredients necessary to make a successful afterschool staff. Afterschool programs whose staff exhibit the core competencies will be best equipped to transform the next generation of youth in San Francisco. The San Francisco Afterschool for All Advisory Council has adopted two sets of competencies: one for afterschool line staff and one for afterschool supervisors. These core competencies were aligned to the California After School Program Quality Self-Assessment Tool. Developed from national and local research on afterschool practice, these competencies will be a powerful tool for increasing afterschool program quality in San Francisco. The complete list of SF AFA Core Competencies for both line staff and supervisors can be found in the Appendix of this Guide, or can be downloaded from the AFA website at sfafterschoolforall.blogspot.com i - 3

8 How To Use This Guide SUGGESTIONS For How To Use This Guide It may be helpful for you to know that each Chapter in this Guide follows the same format: Overview This one-page overview will give you basic definitions of the topics covered, as well as information on why the best practices are important to your program, and when and how you can implement them. Quality Self Assessment Each Chapter contains the related section of the QSA that is covered in that Chapter. For a complete copy of the QSA, see the Appendix. Suggestion 1: Start with the QSA There are two options for how to use the QSA in tandem with this Guide. The first is to complete the entire QSA and then visit the Chapters where you and your staff rated your program the lowest. For example, perhaps you found that you only had low quality indicators in Section 2: Program Administration and Finance. Fine. Start with Chapter 2! The second option is to choose a Chapter and complete the Section of the QSA that is included near the beginning of that Chapter to see where you fall and what is expected of a high quality program in that area. Core Competencies Each Chapter outlines which of the Core Competencies are addressed in that Chapter. Tips These pages contain useful tips that you can use and share with staff to remind them of best practices. They offer creative ways to expand your program activities, services, management, etc. How-To Guides and Tools This is the heart of each Chapter and include resources you can implement off the shelf, including templates and worksheets you can adapt to meet your program s specific needs. As with the original guide, there s no need to read this from front to back. Feel free to flip to an area you d like more information about and go from there. Feeling overwhelmed? The following suggestions offer some tips on where to start. Suggestion 2: Start with the Core Competencies Use the tools found in the SF AFA Core Competency Toolkit at sfafterschoolforall.blogspot.com to assess the Core Competencies of your staff. Then, based on their needs, head to the relevant Chapter of the Guide to find resources. Suggestion 3: Start with What Interests You or Your Staff You may already know what area your program needs help with without even taking a look at the QSA or Core Competencies. Take a look at the Table of Contents, and start with whatever catches your eye. The main point is that the Guide is meant to be used to help you improve the quality of the programs that you are offering to young people in San Francisco! We sincerely hope that everyone who picks up a copy can find at least a few resources within the pages that help them towards that goal! Enjoy! i - 4