Providence After School Alliance

Pasa's middle School initiative known as the afterzone serves 1,500 (30%) middle School students in 5 Providence middle schools. It provides them with a menu of hands-on experimental learning opportunities that promotes the development of a set of social emotional skills like teamwork, problem solving, effective communication and persistence that better prepare students for graduation, careers and college. The afterzone maximizes the pbulic and private community resources and engages youth in learning that sparks their curiousity, connects them to caring adults, and gives them real world experiences that provide context for their academic studies. The afterzone operates 4 seasons and 30 weeks a year. Pasa has also developed a high School system of courses that it operates in 3 high schools serving 400 youth, as well as offering credit-bearing courses to over 100 high School students students from every high School in Providence. These courses offer a mix of clubs to career-related courses for credit. Youth are able to deepen their interests and experiment with introductory career pathway opportunities in what is known systemically as the hub. In addition to course credit, students receive badges for th work readiness skills thy gain from their courses - badges that automatically qualify th students for summer youth employment. Pasa also offers a qualify assessment and training system to the over 50 community partner organizations and 100 part-time instructors who teach the arts, sports and hands on stem and leadership programs in the system. Pasa's quality system has shown that youth who participate over thirty days improve their School attendance, egagement in learning, social and emotional/work readiness skills. Pasa's middle and high School models as well as its quality system have been replicated in over 40 cities around the country supported by training and technical assistance provided to interested cities. Pasa knows youth will succeed in School and make better informed career and college choices when they have experienced learning beyond the classroom that captures their passions, imaginations and talents.