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Date: 7/1/2022
BELCHERTOWN – After several weeks of an after-school program at the elementary level in Belchertown Public Schools, Assistant Superintendent Shawn Fortin provided the Belchertown School Committee an update on the program during its June 28 meeting.
Fortin explained that the recent after-school program, which ran from April 4 through June 2, was a follow-up to one from the prior summer as students were making the transition back to school after remote learning.
“What we did last summer, the primary goal was learning recovery, the secondary goal was getting students used to a routine of being in school for students who were remote during COVID [-19] and their first experience in a school building was our assembly,” he said.
While the summer program was focused on bringing students back in after remote learning, Fortin said the recent after-school program was focused specifically on addressing learning loss and getting students back on track.
“Cold Spring School students engaged in a variety of learning opportunities to build their reading skills. At Swift River they offered STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities on Mondays in Grades 1 through 3, ELA ( Engilsh language arts) on Wednesdays and Thursdays,” he said.
While students in the lower grades followed more of a curriculum, the older students had a bit more freedom in the subjects they got to work on.
“At Chestnut Hill it was more in the thinking of an after-school program where students were able to choose what they did; they could attend every day or something different on Monday, Wednesday or Thursday. They did everything from writing, grammar, reading, math games and more,” Fortin said.
Fortin added that while the highest participation was in the lower grades, the participation dipped slightly for Grades 4 through 6. Throughout the week students attended any combination of the three available days for after school support.
Through the program, Fortin said the district was able to continue to provide free food to the students.
“One of the cool things was that we were able to provide a snack every day and the snack was provided free of charge. That was the same situation where we have lunches and breakfasts now where they are provided free of charge and then the district was reimbursed for it,” he said. “It was another way to give students food every day.”
Over the course of the program Fortin said a total of just under 2,000 snacks were given out to students.
Fortin concluded by thanking the teachers and staff for their hard work throughout the program and said that he hopes the program provides a blueprint for other after-school learning programs.
Superintendent Brian Cameron said he was happy with the way the program turned out for students.
“I was at Cold Spring, and I have to tell you it was amazing to see the students in the after-school program. They weren’t tired, they weren’t moping, they weren’t cranky, they were engaged, they were having fun. It was really nice to see them being engaged with extra heart,” he said.
While the program focused on the younger students, Cameron said there were still after-school learning opportunities for the students at the middle school and the high school.
Committee Vice Chair Ruby Bansal said the after-school programs were a success for her son at the middle school.
“It was a game changer for him I have to say. Just a total change in his mood and his attitude, my husband and I noticed a marked difference in having that socialization,” she said.
During the meeting, the committee also allowed the policy requiring mandatory COVID-19 testing for students participating in high-risk sports and activities to expire with the intention of looking into a new policy during the next school year.
The Belchertown School Committee will reconvene in July.