Driven by the 12 core tenets, the following programs are setting a standard for high quality afterschool programs in the City of Pittsburgh and beyond.

Pittsburgh LEARNS

After the school day ends, 282 Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade students at seven Pittsburgh Public schools across the city are taught, encouraged and cared for by the staff of the 21st Community Learning Centers Pittsburgh LEARNS Afterschool Program. This dynamic program created by Wireless Neighborhoods is delivered by community and faith based partners inside and in collaboration with neighborhood schools, supporting some of the most academically struggling children in the city.

Each Pittsburgh LEARNS afterschool program generally starts at 3:30 PM and ends between 6 and 7 PM Monday through Friday throughout the school year, as well as incorporating a day long, 8 week program that continues to engage and educate students throughout the summer.

To ensure that the activities delivered are just as academically rigorous as they are engaging, Wireless Neighborhoods staff review and provide constructive feedback on each lesson plan prior to implementation. Wireless Neighborhoods staff also maintain close contact with Reading and Math coaches at the district level in order to train site coordinators in current curriculum and the DIBELS and Math SBA assessments, which are used to inform individual student instruction at the afterschool program.

Ready to LEARN

The Heinz Endowments has provided Wireless Neighborhoods with a two-year, $300,000.00 dollar grant to expand its afterschool model to elementary aged children attending Pittsburgh Public Schools Accelerated Learning Academies. With this funding, Wireless Neighborhoods will be able to expand services at existing ALA sites or add new ALAs to our network of community afterschool program partnerships. As with Pittsburgh LEARNS, Ready to Learn will measure student success through a number of instruments including DIBELS, Math SBA, 4Sight, Terra Nova scores, grades, attendance, and adverse action reports.

Community LEARNS

Community LEARNS provides after-school and summer educational, employment, recreational, and supportive services to 9th-12th graders of Peabody High School. The program is philosophically grounded in the belief that school, community and faith partners working together can improve the academic lives of underperforming high school students that are, in many cases, multiple grade levels behind.

Community LEARNS employs intensive case management to connect participants to its site-based programming and to personalize educational plans, targeting individual needs. Sites are homes-away-from-home for our participants. Staff and partners form a support network, working hand-in-hand with Peabody, to promote academic success. The program truly leads with academics.

In the past two years, Community LEARNS has grown to become what we feel is the standard for afterschool programming for urban high school youth in need of additional academic and social supports.

The table below represents the community organization, their partnering school, and the number of students served at each location during the summer of 2007 and the 2007-2008 school year.