The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program provides communities the ability to develop or expand on out-of-school time programs. These programs give students opportunities for academic enrichment and provide a broad array of additional services, including youth development activities, drug and violence prevention programs, counseling programs, art, music, recreation, technology education, and character education programs that are designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program. The 21st CCLC grants also benefit the families of eligible students by providing opportunities for literacy and related educational developmental opportunities. The grant should also provide those families opportunities for active and meaningful engagement in their children's education.
The 21st CCLC program provides grants to programs that serve students that attend high poverty schools or schools that are school-wide Title I programs to enable them to plan, implement, or expand projects that benefit the educational, health, social services, cultural, and recreational needs of the students, their families, and their communities. 21st CCLCs enable communities to use public schools or other facilities that are at least as available and accessible to the students to be served as if the program were located in a public elementary school or secondary school, as safe community education centers providing academic enrichment, homework centers, and tutors, and a range of cultural, developmental and recreational opportunities. A school must meet the 40% free and reduced poverty requirement or have Title I School-wide status in order to be a 21st CCLC site.
Applicants must propose an array of inclusive and supervised services that include expanded learning opportunities (such as enriched instruction, tutoring, or homework assistance) for children. Applicants may also include a variety of other activities for children and community members, such as physical fitness and wellness programs; musical and artistic activities; health and nutrition programs; parent education classes; adult literacy courses; and opportunities to use advanced technology, particularly for those who do not have access to computers or telecommunications at home.
To receive a grant under this program, applicants must provide services that address the absolute priority and may add other program activities stated in the law, as described below:
- Absolute priority: Provide academic enrichment and remedial activities (including tutoring and homework help) to students to help them meet state and local standards in the core content areas, including reading, math, and science, as well as to improve their overall academic achievement.
- Other activities to consider:
- Mathematics, reading, and science education activities;
- Arts and music education activities;
- Financial literacy programs;
- Tutoring services and mentoring programs;
- Drug and violence prevention programs;
- Counseling programs;
- Programs that provide after school activities for limited English proficient students that emphasize language skills and academic achievement;
- Telecommunications and technology education programs;
- Expanded library services hours;
- Programs that promote parental involvement and family literacy;
- Nutrition and health education; and
- Youth development activities
- Internships and apprenticeships
The Department shall give priority (up to twenty points) to applications meeting one of the
following criteria.
- Applications targeting services to students attending schools that have been identified as Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) schools or Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) schools. The list of those identified schools is found here: https://doe.sd.gov/title/documents/23-Classification.pdf
- To increase geographic diversity amongst grantees, the state will offer preference points on applications that propose to serve eligible schools in a South Dakota public school district that has not been served with a 21CCLC grant or subgrant funds since the 2021-2022 school year.
- Proposed programming that emphasizes evidence-based practices for increasing student attendance and engagement, reducing rates of chronic absenteeism, and enhancing connections between students in middle grades and high school and their school, family, and program partners.