By Kristopher Caalim and Nancy Rodriguez

Schools across Sacramento County are expanding afterschool and summer school classes, with a focus on reaching students who traditionally have struggled to make good grades.

The move is part of a broader state effort. California has long fought to close the educational gap set between race and economic groups. According to a study published by the Public Policy Institute of California, only 35% of low-income students met state standards in ELA compared to 65% of higher-income students, with disparities growing even more when a student is an English learner.

In the most recent attempt, legislators at the state house implemented funding for the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) into the 2021-22 state budget. ELOP is a multi-year investment plan of $1.74 billion aiming to improve and expand before, after, and summer school programs for students in grades TK-6.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget increases funding for the program by $435 million, making more school districts eligible to receive more funds.

The program is focused on school districts with the highest concentrations of low-income students, English learners, and youth in foster care.

Sacramento City Unified officials use those same three categories when expanding their extracurricular programs, according to Director of Youth Development Manpreet Kaur.

“We prioritize unduplicated students, which means the students who are on free and reduced lunch, who are English learners and who are foster youth,” Kaur said.

According to Afterschool Alliance, the demand for afterschool programs has skyrocketed. This is because research has shown that student involvement in afterschool programs leads to lower dropout rates and shrinking achievement gaps.

“We have always seen in our reports that those students perform better, the ones who are in expanded learning programs,” Kaur noted. “Their attendance is better…students have less behavior issues.”

Kaur added that Sacramento City Unified has implemented different programs such as providing bilingual aids in the summer that help those students read English or learn English faster.

“We also need to remember during after-school time, a lot of social interactions happen,” Kaur pointed out. “Students speak to each other more, and we all know that the way you learn a language is by talking to each other so it’s very beneficial for those students who don’t speak English or who are new to the country.”

Kaur said that the programs are also built to focus on building social skills among students.

“Expanded learning programs, after school or before school or summer programs that’s where students have freedom to interact with each other,” Kaur asserted, adding that physical activity also plays an important part as students get to play and talk to each other.

Sacramento City Unified has been running expanded learning programs since 1998 and ELOP is helping fund the expansion of programs that are already established in schools across the district.  

The nonprofit group 916 Ink is one of many groups in Sacramento that works closely with schools to help provide expanded learning. The group’s 2022-2023 annual report found that nearly 51% of students in Sacramento County failed to meet grade-level standards for English, while 62% failed to meet math standards.

916ink is working to improve those ELA test scores through programs like ‘Find Your Voice’, which brings writing workshops to schools and community organizations throughout the Sacramento Region.

“We work in community schools, CARES classrooms, the Youth Detention Facility, Title 1 schools, unhoused youth, and more,” said Brooke Noble, Find Your Voice’s youth coordinator.

The program aims to motivate young people to write and provides students with the opportunity to become published authors. Noble said that English learners in their workshops get to practice their writing, share their stories and publish them in their native language.

“Most of our programs are after-school, with some being in-class. We highly encourage student collaboration through sharing their writing out loud and giving positive feedback to their peers,” Noble reflected. “I would say there is tremendous growth from week 1 to week 12 in terms of social skills.”

For the students who are struggling in their program, Noble explained how they follow up with the school staff and collaborate to provide additional support.

Expanded learning programs have other benefits, too. With a babysitter costing around $20 per hour in Sacramento, low-income parents rely on them to provide a safe space for their children.

Sacramento City Unified School District Student Board Member Justine Chueh-Griffith said, “Having these places helps ensure that there is a place for students, not only to get help with school work but also to hang out.”