In Reach

In its third and final year of a three year grant from the Maryland State Department of Education, In Reach's (IR) implemented and evaluated its College and Career Ready 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) initiative which was designed to prepare students in grades K-8 to successfully reach Maryland's College and Career Readiness Standards. This includes strengthening their core academic reading and math skills; providing positive youth development via character education and social and emotional growth activities; and leveraging parent, family and community engagement outcomes. In 2018, In Reach's 21st CCLC K-8 partner schools included William Paca ES and Kenmoor MS, both in Landover, MD, Prince George's County. Afterschool Program Components Include: Academic and Enrichment: IR understood that each school had its own individual instructional needs to address. IR reinforced and complemented the regular academic program of participating students while adding enrichment activities that there may not be any time available for during the regular school day. Character Education/Social and Emotional Development: IR's framework for working with students was based on the Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets which identifies the 40 building blocks of healthy development - known as Developmental Assets - that help children grow up healthy, caring, and responsible. Service Learning: IR follows Maryland's 7 Best Practices for Service Learning linked to the National K-12 Service Learning Standards for Quality of Practice. As it is mandatory for students to master 75 hours of service learning by the Prince George's County Public Schools system to meet graduation requirements, IR worked with its afterschool teachers and community partners to assist students in attaining the 24 independent hours of service learning they were required to complete. Parent, Family & Community Engagement: IR's parent, family and community engagement work via its Parent Academy was in alignment with the Prince George's County Public Schools System's goal to build achievement through a world class education that is responsive to community needs, while developing career and college readiness for all students.

Outreach and Public Engagement - In Reach is committed to raising awareness and engaging stakeholders in learning and taking action on the issues that directly challenge its mission. In Reach advocates by creating, collecting and disseminating information and uniting voices to speak on behalf of children, youth and families. In Reach used digital and social media tools to raise awareness about the educational needs of its students, families and educators in Prince George's County, MD. Visit our website, https://inreachinc.org, for more information.

Special Initiatives/Partnerships - In Reach continued to collaborate and engage in initiatives to address its mission of preparing students for college, work and life. It partnered with local government agencies and offices, community leaders, other nonprofit organizations to execute activities related to child mental health, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and social media and teens. Visit our website, https://inreachinc.org, for more information.