WHY?
Society has changed. Gone are the days of stay-at-home mothers and schools that are open only for six hours a day. Today many parents must work full-time and schools have created a bevy of before- and after-school programs to help time-crunched parents with care and to help students complement the learning they receive during regular school hours. Filling a Need… The figures vary, but as many as 15 million children leave school each day without a place to go or a parent to welcome them home. Combine that with the fact that the FBI claims juvenile crime triples during the hours immediately after school, and the need for safe, quality after-school programs becomes obvious. Before school is also a troublesome time because many parents commute to work and leave before regular school hours begin.

Landrum’s after school program is designed to provide opportunities for academic enrichment in a wide array of activities to help students meet State and local student academic achievement standards in the core academic subjects of reading and mathematics during non-school hours (such as before-, after-, summer, and Saturday school programs).

Landrum believes in the priorities of strengthening connections between regular school and after-school programs
Research shows that developing comprehensive after-school programs that are integrated into the regular school program and other family support systems within the community can yield positive outcomes for students and their families.

Landrum after school staff believes integration of educational opportunities that support and enrich classroom-based instruction through an extension of classroom instruction. All major program decisions in the comprehensive program are based on data collected from the regular education testing program and ongoing needs assessment from regular classroom teachers and administrators. Students in the sixth - eighth grades complete a unit of instruction on test-taking skills before state assessment tests are administered.

Landrum programs offered are as follows:

• A homework help center
• Technology learning lab
• Individualized academic tutorials
• A variety of activities designed around student academic needs and involving practice with basic skills of reading and math
• Recreational basketball, soccer, flag football, weightlifting
• Karate
• GIRLS club
• S.T.A.R.S. dance club
• Art: Mural painting and Mosaic benches

After school program guidelines The program staff uses the same discipline rules, and student code of conduct guidelines as the regular classroom. The activities and guidelines are part of the daily interaction with students. We insist that time is well structured in the program. Students are never left unattended or without activities to keep them occupied. The program has an established routine so students know what is expected of them at all times.

Landrum believes that the after school program can offer elements of success…
Because of the variety of before- and after-school programs offered to students, it’s difficult, nay impossible, to say that one is better than another. But a U.S. Department of Education report, Safe and Smart: Making the After-School Hours Work for Kids, outlines some common elements that every program should possess. Landrum components include:

• Goal-setting and strong management;
• Low staff/participant ratios;
• Links between school-day teachers and after-school staff;
• Evaluation of program progress and effectiveness;
• Effective partnerships among parents, school staffs, social service agencies, community organizations, etc.;
• Plans for sustainability; and
• Opportunities for active learning.