This indicator measures how grantees provide expanded and enriched learning time and opportunities. Expanded and enriched learning time and opportunities, through evidence-based strategies (as defined by ESSA), include before-school, after-school, during-school, weekend, and summer programs that provide additional academic instruction, individualized academic support, enrichment activities, or learning opportunities, for students at a community school that—

1. May emphasize real-world project-based learning where students can apply their learning to contexts that are relevant and engaging; and
2. May include art, music, drama, creative writing, hands-on experience with engineering or science (including computer science), career and technical education, tutoring that is aligned with classroom success and homework help, and recreational programs that enhance and are consistent with the school’s curriculum.[i]

This indicator combines both added instructional (expanded time) and meaningful and engaging (enriched learning) opportunities. As such, this indicator may also include the intentional collaboration between educators and community partners to apply project-based learning during in- and out-of-school time, including internships, externships, and opportunities to solve community challenges.

The project's objective is to provide expanded and enriched learning time and opportunities according to the needs and contexts of the school and students.

In total, 215 students were identified to receive tier 1 (i.e., prevention and enrichment) services during the school year 2022-23 at Shakamak Jr./Sr./High School, and an additional 348 students were identified and received tier 1 services during the school year 2023 in both elementary and Jr./Sr./High School. A total of 230 students received tier 1 after-school services, and 11 jJr./Sr. High School students participated in summer learning programs in the Summer of 2023. Once the elementary school reaches the end of the 2023/2024 school year, we will be able to report this data for that location as well.

The service referrals can be challenging, as reported during the focus groups, when parents are not vested in or encounter barriers, like health and financial issues, in connecting children to expanded and enriched learning services. Additionally, due to the rural nature of MSD of Shakamak, the Site Coordinator at the Jr./Sr. High School had to think more creatively about what summer programming might look like, and needed to take a more active role with community partners to solicit these opportunities for students. 

The CC Site Coordinator is a dedicated resource person who conducts extensive follow-ups to ensure no student falls through the cracks due to out-of-school or family-related challenges to connect to the referred services, and they try their utmost to mitigate these challenges in order to ensure the completion of referrals. In addition, new services and community partners are onboarded on an ongoing basis to cater to the changing needs of students and their families and mitigate the barriers they face to accessing these services. As these relationships with community partners deepen and expand, both of the CC Site Coordinators will see increased success in ensuring that the partners are meeting the needs of their students, not only because of the strength of their relatioships, but also because they will have a deeper knowledge of their students and families to better inform those partnerships.