After school mentoring programs will be offered in elementary and middle schools throughout the county at a minimum of 11 elementary schools and 2 middle schools

The St. Mary’s County Public Schools After School Mentoring Programs for the 2019-2020 school year will center around a framework for prevention created by the Cypress Initiative’s S.P.A.R.K. (Speaking to the Potential, Ability, and Resilience inside every Kid) mentoring curriculum.

A checklist/guideline will be developed for counselors, teachers, and/or administrators to reference when recommending students for the after school mentoring program. This document will highlight the three situations associated with ACEs (abuse/neglect, household dysfunction [such as incarceration] and hunger/poverty). Other issues will be considered, such as housing instability. In addition to students identified as “at risk” by the checklist/guideline described above, the after school mentoring program will also include students who qualify for the FARMs program.

SMCPS will strive to include approximately 150 students and at least 100 mentors in after school mentoring programs.