NECC continues to provide after-school services

MILLERTON — The North East Community Center (NECC) will offer crucial after-school care to students in the Webutuck Central School District for the 2010-11 academic year, just as it has since 2003. The aim of the program is to offer children a variety of activities focused on a combination of scholastics, physical fitness, creativity and social interaction.

There are two different groups in the program: one for kindergartners through sixth-graders and one for seventh- and eighth-graders. The younger group meets Monday through Friday, from 3:30 to 6 p.m. at the Millerton Elementary School building on Route 22. The children are bused from Webutuck’s central campus and then parents pick them up afterward.

The daily fee is $10; there is a sibling discount, as well as a discount for children who attend the full week. Those who participate in Webutuck’s free or reduced lunch program are also eligible for deep discounts. The rates, meanwhile, have not changed since last year. The program has been running for the past seven years, growing steadily over time.

The older group meets Monday through Friday, until 5 p.m., at the Eugene Brooks Intermediate School lunchroom. It’s been doing so since 2003. According to NECC Executive Director Jenny Hansell, their program is quite different.

“They also get homework done and run around, but the focus is on clubs,†she said, adding that the program is free for the older students. “It’s more incentive for parents to send their children [to after-school] if they don’t have to pay, because at that age they could just send them home alone with no supervision, but also with no excitement.â€

This year the middle school after-school program will offer a graphic novel club for the first time, as well as the popular empty bowls program, the Webutuck garden, a hip-hop club, improv drama, The Marathon Project and a teen team leadership program. The last program was started a few years ago for older teens, but has since expanded to include middle school-age students, to give them a chance to talk about teen issues and offer social support and introduce the concept of community service.

Roughly 70 students participate in the older after-school group (including The Marathon Project); the core group consists of about 25 students. According to Hansell there’s “definitely room for more.â€

That’s also the case for the younger group, which has about 25 participants with a maximum capacity of 58. Currently there’s a one to 10 counselor to child ratio, along with interns from the high school who lend their assistance.

The K-6 after-school group offers outside play and exercise, as well as homework help, “lessons†in science, music, art, drama and other enriching activities that encourage academic skills in a fun and creative way.

“I love it. They do a great job,†said parent Casey Swift, who has been sending her 9-year-old son, Daniel, to the program on and off for the past four years. “They provide all kinds of activities on a daily basis and my son doesn’t have to go to the program but he likes to go. They do a lot of different things, like trips to the museums as well as local stuff like food for the pantries and senior citizens for Thanksgiving. They do a good job.â€

NECC recently received, for the seventh year running, a coveted grant from the state’s Office of Children and Family Services, which Hansell described as a “mark of quality,†and “not easy to get.†It also received funding from the Dyson Foundation and the Target Foundation. The awards recognize that the community center is a major resource for the district and for families living and working in the Harlem Valley.

“The impact this has on kids personally and mentally, it can make a profound difference,†Hansell said. “Some families use us because they’re working and need safe, reliable, caring child care, and this is affordable. If you think about what a baby-sitter charges this is an incredible deal. Others appreciate the learning that goes on with the program. Every district should have an after-school child-care option. I really hope people realize and understand how much families depend on this program — how much they count on it.â€

To learn more about NECC’s after-school programs or to register, call 518-789-4259, go online to neccmillerton.org or stop by the community center at 51 South Center St., Millerton.