The purpose of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program is to provide opportunities for communities to establish or expand activities in community learning centers that:
- Provide opportunities for academic enrichment, including providing tutorial services to help students, particularly students who attend low-performing schools, to meet the challenging State academic standards;
- Offer students a broad array of additional services, programs, and activities, such as youth development activities, service learning, nutrition and health education, drug and violence prevention programs, counseling programs, arts, music, physical fitness and wellness programs, technology education programs, financial literacy programs, environmental literacy programs, mathematics, science, career and technical programs, internship or apprenticeship programs, and other ties to an in-demand industry sector or occupation for high school students that are designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program of participating students; and
- Offer families of students served by community learning centers opportunities for active and meaningful engagement in their children's education, including opportunities for literacy and related educational development.
All three program components must be offered through each center, and must be available to all participating students.
Multiple program options may be used by recipients of 21st CCLC funding, including; before school, after school, weekends, holidays or summer recess. Program funds may also be used to expand learning time to provide activities within the school day in schools implementing an expanded learning time program that provides students with at least 300 additional program hours per year before, during, or after the traditional school day, week or year. Expanded learning includes the time that a school expands its normal school day, week, or year to provide additional instruction or educational programs for all students beyond the State-mandated requirements for the minimum number of hours in a school day, days in a school week, or days or weeks in a school year.
Applicants requesting use of 21st CCLC funds during the mandatory school day must demonstrate that the expanded learning program of the school(s) served, inclusive of the proposed 21st CCLC program, will provide students at least 300 additional program hours per year before, during, or after the traditional school day.
Competitive priority be given to applications that propose to target services to students who attend schools that
Additional priority points will be awarded to applications that will primarily serve students who attend a school (i.e., public school, private school or charter school) that meets one or more of the following criteria: