After-School Learning Center (ASLC)

   About the Program     Challenges & Strategies     More Information   

About the Program

After-School Learning Center (ASLC) is a school-based afterschool program at Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center (SNBC) in San Francisco, California. The program includes a variety of project-based learning activities supporting homework, language arts, creative arts, IT skill development and civic engagement in collaboration with teachers at the A.P. Giannini Middle School. This program is five days a week and targets middle school youth who are in 6-8th grade. There are currently 240 participants enrolled, with an average of 202 attendees on a daily basis and 104 youth on the waiting list.

The Goals of This Program:

• To help youth meet the California Department of Education's Content Standards through the quality curriculum
• To prepare youth for 21st century and provide real-world skills, and career development
• To enhance positive youth development that supports learning in a safe environment, and promotes a strong relationship with parents and teachers, and community involvement

Program Activities:

ASLC offers programming through project-based learning "clubs" employing a range of experiential approaches. All the clubs are encouraged to integrate technology based on state goals and standards. In addition to homework assistance, the clubs include diverse activities such as Movie-Making, Game-Making, Robotics, Urban Dance, and Get Global. To accomplish the goals of each club, participants use a high-speed Internet connection and a variety of technologies and software including iMovie, FruityLoops Studio, Adobe Photoshop and the Microsoft Office suite.

Link to school subject areas:

"Every project-based learning club addresses at least a few school subjects. Practically every club has a strong English language and technology component. In addition, clubs like Robotics have a strong math/science component as participants program Lego 'robots' by utilizing basic geometry, physics, math models and computer programming models. The Get Global club focuses on issues facing the world today and how they affect people on a local, national, and international level. Urban Dance addresses content from both social studies and math angles. Participants learn, for example, about break dancing as part of hip-hop culture and how it has evolved over time. And when the young people are performing the basics of break dancing, they use addition and division patterns to keep rhythm and visualize the overall pattern of the dance form."

Funding Sources:

Grants are mostly used for special projects, equipment upgrades and new hardware and software:

• Federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers in collaboration with the San Francisco Unified School District
• The After School Education and Safety (ASES) program for elementary and middle school youth
• Other support from individuals, corporate sponsors, and foundations