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Item 8A v CITY OE ATLANTIC BSACII CITY COMMISSION MEETING STAFF RSPORT AGENDA ITEM #8A AUGUST 14, 2006 AGENDA ITEM: Expansion of Jordan Community Center to Accommodate After School Tutoring Program SUBMITTED BY: Jim Hanson, Ci Mana DA'I'S: August 7, 2006 BACKGROUND: The City of Atlantic Beach has provided an after school program for children in the Jordan Park Center for several years. Volunteers have helped many of the kids with their homework. Beaches Habitat has recently obtained funding to expand the program by paying a fulltime coordinator and making improvements to the building that will allow for the tutoring to be conducted in several study modules. One problem in tt-~e existing building is the noise level from having so many kids in one room. Habitat has offered to construct an addition to the building costing $75,000 and will provide staffing to manage the tutoring program for at least three years. City staff has worked with Habitat representatives over the last couple of months on the building design. This design, along with the expanded tutoring program that it will support, will help in the education of many of the children in the Jordan Park area. BUDGET: The construction of this addition will be paid by Beaches Habitat with no funds required from the City of Atlantic Beach. Additionally, the person managing the program will also be paid by Beaches Habitat for at least three years. After that time, Atlantic Beach may be requested to provide funding for some or all of the operational costs of the program, although no commitments have been made to do so. ~"' RECOMMENDATION: Approve the request by Beaches Habitat to allow for the construction of an addition to the Jordan Park Community Center and to allow the use of that center for the use of the after school tutoring program. ATTAC NTS: 1) Letter dated June 8, 2006 from Ralph Marcelio of Beaches Habitat describing the program with attachments 2) Second letter front Ralph Marcello dated June 20, 2006 fiQi-tl~er describing the commitments of Beaches Habitat 3) Architectural drawings of the proposed expansion ~. ~. ~. ~ ~ Jim Hanson City Manager ' City of Atlantic Beach 800 Seminole Road Atlantic Beach FL. 32233 Dear Jim, Habitat far Humanity° .~aec~cs~e-~oriBle ~3e~.1~~ AGENDA ITEM #8A AUGUST 14, 2006 Thank you for taking the time to meet with Joyce and I last week. I have attempted to answer your questions, which I believe focused on three areas: • Habitat's commitment to the Education Program • The continuity, or longevity of the Education Program • Program and building management We are prepared to contractually commit to our program responsibilities. Please note that our only goal is to build a better facility (at no initial cost to the city) to accommodate our After School program. The growth of the program has ~, been documented in our prior correspondence. Architectural and engineering drawings will be ready by the end of July. We would like to schedule a presentation to the city council at this time. We appreciate you help and support. Ralph M cello Executive Director Habitat for Humanity-Jacksonville Beaches After School Program Program Goals & Results AGENDA ITEM #8A AUGUST 14, 2006 The After School Tutoring Program is an important component in our overall Education Program. The goals are threefold: ~, • Make education a priority for the participating children. • Motivate young students to further their education ~,,, Help them with their studies at an early age by using the Great Leaps Reading and Math program. Kathy Christensen, a teacher with a special education degree, runs the program. Kathy is supported by a group of approximately 12 volunteer tutors as well as an Americorps volunteer. n We now see about 40 students at the Jordan and Donner Center. Historical growth in students and volunteers has been documented in prior communications. Program Commitment & Continuity The Board of Directors and staff of Habitat for Humanity of the Jacksonville Beaches are committed to the program for the long term. Most importantly, our major donors, Herb &Miyuki Scheidel, are committed. Current in place financial ~' commitments include: • 5 new UNF scholarships and 30 to 40 new FCCJ scholarships available every year. These scholarships are thanks to a generous $2.2 million donation from Herb &Miyuki Scheidel with a $1.8 million match from the State of Florida. • Student Awards for academic excellence and perfect attendance, which total $25,000 per year, are funded for the long term by Herb &Miyuki Scheidel. • The Jaguars Foundation had indicated they would most likely renew our $17,500 per year grant for the After School Tutoring Program. • Habitat will add a full time Education Director, Amanda Ward. She will begin in August of this year. Kathy Christensen will continue to serve as the administrator of the After School Program. • $75k to expand the Jordan Park Community Center. No costs would be incurred by Atlantic Beach. ~. ~. :~. AGENDA ITEM #SA AUGUST 14, 2006 2005/2006 fiscal year Education donations total $130k. Our Education Bank Account balance currently exceeds $110k. Current fiscal year total Habitat cash donations will exceed $1.2 million. Total ~° income will exceed $2.5 million. Funding the After School program on an ongoing basis will continue. Habitat would certainly be willing to commit to a 5-year contract with the city of Atlantic Beach to run the After School Program. Program & Building Management Habitat sees no major change in the management of the After School Program. The management of building facilities would also not change. However, Habitat would need all day access to the expanded facilities. If necessary, we could place locked doors on both sides of the building so we would not have access to the common room during the day. Please note that the expanded center could be used to support other city activities including adult education and computer training. The addition is a win-win for both parties. ~, 6:, AGENDA ITEM #8A AUGUST 14, 2006 I;eaches Habitat Habitat for Humanity of the Jacksonville Beaches, Inc. Jim Hanson City Manager City of Atlantic Beach Dear Jim, June 8, 2006 ~'" Habitat of the Jacksonville Beaches has been working in partnership with Atlantic Beach to provide an After School Tutoring Program at both the Donner and Jordan Community Center. These programs have been successful and we currently see about 40 children every day in both centers. Our home building program is in full gear with 150 homes complete, most of which are in Atlantic Beach. Our next 8 homes will be built on Francis and Ardella. 60 building lots located near Mayport ~!* Road still remain. We anticipate the After School Program to at least double over the next 3 years primarily from new Habitat homes but also from other Atlantic Beach residents. This trend can be seen in the attached After School Program Growth Chart, that shows how much the program has grown since its inception in 2001. To improve our facilities at the Jordan Center, we propose to build a 1,000 square foot addition to the center. This would provide a small computer area, additional tutoring space and a conference area for our reading clubs. In addition we plan to install some noise abatement materials in the common room. The high ceilings and vinyl flooring make the room quite noisy. Herb Scheidel, who donated $2 million to establish a LJNF & FCCJ scholarship program, sees the importance of the After School Program to better prepare more students for a college education. He „~, has committed to donate between $50,000 to $75,000 to build this addition. There would be no cost to the city. Our plans are to move forward and develop working plans for the addition. Before we do this, we would like to meet with you to discuss these plans (see attached). Education is the way out of the poverty cycle and in this community of Atlantic Beach, an education center could provide opportunities beyond tutoring children. Jacksonville's rate of adult illiteracy is very high. Many children and adults would like to become computer literate. With forward thinking, this expansion could be the home to a wide variety of educational opportunities that would benefit the people residing in this community. Thank you for your past support. We look forward to making this program a model in the community. ~' ./ `~~~ 11~ Ralph rce o Executive Director P.O. Box 50939 Jacksonville Beach, Florida 32240 (904) 241-1222 ~. AGENDA ITEM #8A AUGUST 14, 2006 After School Program Overview The Prep Club, and educational organization for students living in Habitat homes, provides ~" monetary incentives to encourage academic achievement. Post secondary scholarships are also available for those students who qualify. The City of Atlantic Beach provides a homework assistance and recreational program for the children in the community. After volunteering in that ~" effort, it was evident that many children were not performing on grade level in reading or math. The Jordan Community Center Director and the Beaches Habitat Education Coordinator worked together to provide additional reading support to the students who were struggling, and began "" using the Great Leaps Program, aphonics-based supplemental reading program using direct instruction with an adult and one child. Ezaansion of the After School Program During the second year of using Great Leaps (2003-2004) student performance was recorded . There were 14 children, and in order to see these students at least 3 times per week, 3 volunteers were added. 75% of the students who participated significantly improved their reading fluency. However, a new approach was needed for students who could read fluently, but did not comprehend what they were reading. ~. During the 2004-2005 school year, 20 students were tracked at the Jordan Center and 7 students at the Donner Center in Great Leaps. The Strategies for Teaching Comprehension program was added for 12 students. Working one-on-one with a student in both fluency and comprehension takes 20 minutes minimum as a result, volunteers were increased to approximately 8 (2-3 each ,~„ day). Reading Comprehension data for the 2004-2005 school year was very encouraging and showed that students were improving their reading skills. „~, Current Year At the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year, 30 students enrolled at the Jordan Center and 13 at the Donner Center. Currently there are 15 tutors serving both the Jordan and Donner Centers. ~, At the Jordan Center 3-4 volunteers have been assigned daily from 3:30-S:OOpm and 12-15 students are tutored per day in Great Leaps and Comprehension. In addition to the 30 students in Great Leaps, 36 students attend our popular Book Clubs. There are also students who come to ~„ the center for help with homework that are not tracked or enrolled in the additional programs. Each year the number of students seen in the after school program has increased, and with additional Habitat families moving in the area, that trend will continue. Students at the Jordan Center use the large community room for both recreation and homework assistance. There are two small rooms available for tutoring. Students are very conscientious when reading aloud, and students are timed when reading. This makes it difficult to tutor more than one child in a room, and it is very distracting to tutor students in the large room with children coming in and out of the building. In addition to the one-on-one tutoring programs, there are organized book clubs for the students. This is their time to read for enjoyment, discuss ideas aloud, play vocabulary games and enjoy participating in a group. Children look forward to weekly book clubs, however there is not a room that can accommodate the number of students in the groups. On occasion, Book Clubs have access to the conference room on the side of the ,~. AGENDA ITEM #8A AUGUST 14, 2006 building where the offices are located, but this makes it a less than ideal area to congregate for instructing groups of children. In addition to struggling readers, there are students who are not passing math. There is a former math teacher conducting a small math group to build basic skills. The math group meets in the conference room on the Beaches Habitat office side of the building. ~„ Expansion Beaches Habitat would like to see the students who come to the after school program have the best possible environment for assisting them in their academic work. Beaches Habitat has ~. effective teaching materials, incentives, trained volunteers, and eager students. By providing this after school program with an area conducive to tutoring individual students and small group instruction (i.e. quiet area, less distractions and interruptions), Beaches Habitat could provide an ~.. optimal learning setting for the children, most of who are struggling academically. After School Program Growth 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 ^ Studerrts ^ Tutors 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 ~. ;~ ~: C :. ~: J r 0. Q 0. it ~' w ~z u ~F ~~ ., Z ,~~ ~~ -. ,,. ,~ ~_ -fir, ~_ ~ Z M T T ~~' /'1 V ~~. T " ~~ -• ti. - ~-, ~~ ~. ~.. 7-, v. s AGENDA ITEM #8A AUGUST 14, 2006 `:E ~:.