Rachel Johnson and I am the site Director for the Admiral at Lakeland

Good Afternoon and thank you for this opportunity to share with you some information about my collaborative school age program. My name is Rachel Johnson and I am the site Director for the Admiral at Lakeland which is housed in the gymnasium of the Lakeland Early Childhood Center of Carbondale Elementary School District (CESD) #95 . I am also a parent of a 2 year old and 2 school age kids for whom I receive IDHS child care subsidy in order to work and go to school. 

My reason for being here today is to urge this committee to support a mandatory initiative for all Illinois school districts to collaborate with local child care providers to offer school age children with full year, wrap-around programming. By maximizing existing school facilities not in use outside of regular school hours, we can serve a growing need of all children, their families and the communities in which they live. 

The Admiral at Lakeland is a licensed, wrap-around before and after school program (for school age children of CESD #95 only) which is currently licensed for and serving its capacity of 80 children, ages 5 through 16 years (an obvious success). The Admiral at Lakeland provides before school programming beginning at 7:00AM until the various schools commence. After school programming begins upon the dismissal of the district schools until 6:00PM, Monday through Friday. In addition, The Admiral at Lakeland offers full-day care and programming from 7:00AM to 6:00PM on all conference days and various non-school attendance days including Spring Break (excluding Christmas break). On days when the district schools dismiss early, care is provided from dismissal time until 6:00PM. The Admiral at Lakeland also offers transportation to the Admiral Child Development Center for children requiring extended evening care services. In total, care is provided with a smooth transition, from 7:00AM through 11:30PM during the school year. 

The Admiral at Lakeland has been in operation since the 1998 school year. Of the 2340 elementary school children in Carbondale, only 13% of these children were being served by providers of school age programs. Parents had little or no choice but to leave their children home unsupervised, not only after school dismissed but while the parent worked their odd-hour shifts. 

The Admiral at Lakeland meets the needs of children and families in a variety of ways. For the students, focus is given to enhancing and complementing what the children receive in public school as well as meeting their developmental needs as they make the transition from early childhood to adolescence. Children are provided with a variety of opportunities for exercise, socialization, cultural diversity and making choices. The program includes a variety of activities geared to the various age levels, interests and abilities of these children. There is also time for homework and peer tutoring. Children and families benefit from our safe and supervised, as well as supportive and nurturing, environments. This gives parents the assurances they need which in turn allows them to lead more productive lives. These arrangements also accommodate many parents with school and/or work schedules that commonly cross over between day and evening hours. 

Due to the ever increasing need of care for these children and the limited slots and facilities available, this collaboration was sorely needed. We applaud the Carbondale Elementary School District #95 for recognizing the needs of their children and their families and providing this collaborative opportunity. However, much more needs to be done. Sharing common facilities and spaces has proven difficult and extremely stressful not only for us and the district but also for the children and their families. Incorporating DCFS licensing standards and compliance into the public school way of thinking has been next to impossible. 

Existing slots for full time summer care in the Carbondale area has been grossly inadequate over the past years. This past summer, the CESD #95 allowed us to operate a full (work) day program during the months of June and July. This was great and filled up quickly. However, our program was then instructed by the district to vacate the building until school resumed in August. We proposed moving to another district building for that time but to no avail. This left 60 families and our program without a place to operate for three weeks. The ramification to these families meant that either parents could not work or go to school or children had to be without care. This further supports the fact that demand for full (work) day, full year care for school age children is at an all-time high. 

School districts need to recognize that for most of their children the day does not end at 3PM, nor is summer simply a vacation. Collaborative efforts can only be successful with the support and 100% commitment of all parties involved. 

With additional cooperation from the district and its teachers we can expand into classrooms increasing the programs capacity and effectiveness. The current before and after school program at Lakeland illustrates the success that collaboration can have. The long range goals of the Admiral at Lakeland include becoming a year-round (including full time summer) school age program along with forming future linkages with neighboring school districts in order to fill the increasing demand for (quality) school age care in the area. 

Ultimately, investments in programming for children beyond regular school hours leads to an enhanced level of quality toward life long learning, which benefits children, parents, school districts and the communities they live in.