The YMCA's Beyond the Bell Program is expanding in an effort to reach more First Nations students in southwestern Ontario.
Vice President of Operations for the YMCAs across Southwestern Ontario Liz Fletcher says they're planning to offer the program at Walpole Island Elementary School in 2018.
"We're very excited about that, we've been working alongside Walpole in several initiatives in the community," says Fletcher. "They've agreed to [the expansion] and they're really excited about being able to provide more support for their families and obviously for the children in their school."
The free after school program helps children "improve their literacy and numeracy skills, build social skills, and develop self-confidence."
Fletcher says the goal of the Beyond the Bell program is to close the "achievement gap" experienced by low-income children or children who have English as a second language compared to their middle-income classmates.
The program's expansion is possible thanks to a $683,700 Ontario Trillium Grow Grant.
That funding will also allow the YMCA to continue supporting Beyond the Bell programs at A.A. Wright Public School in Wallaceburg, St. Ursula Catholic School in Chatham, and P.E. McGibbon Public School in Sarnia for three more years while also expanding to Walpole Island and a second unconfirmed location.
"We'll work with our school board partners to determine a school that is the right fit for this program," says Fletcher. "What we look for are academic reports and standards at that current school and how we might be able to support them best."
The program has already been offered at A.A. Wright, St. Ursula, and P.E. McGibbon for the past three years and Fletcher says they are seeing noticeable results.
She says the reading assessment results show that 79% of the children in the program increased their reading grade level by one or more grade levels and in that group, 52% of the students increased their reading by two or more grade levels. When it comes to math, the results are similar with most students seeing a one grade level increase.
"That really shows that the attention to those skills with the help of the parents and the teachers really makes a difference in their ability to learn and to read," says Fletcher. "That will significantly impact them as they go on to further education at the high school level."
In addition to those academic skills, the Beyond the Bell program focuses on social and emotional learning -- that includes teaching kids about healthy eating and YMCA values like "caring" and what that looks like inside and outside the classroom.
