September-December 2016
Decatur Active Living • Children & Youth Services
Decatur After School Programs Achieve National Accreditation
I
n February, Decatur’s Children and Youth Services Division accomplished the milestone achievement of eight of eight accredited programs through the Council on Accreditation (COA). This was the first time in the history of the city’s after school programs that 100 percent of after school sites were accredited.
The accreditation process involves many hours of preparation and effort on the part of the city’s program and administrative staff, followed by a visit from an endorser from COA who reviews every aspect of the programs’ operations, including programming, administration, and human resources. A growing body of research on the field of “out-of-school time” demonstrates the capacity of quality after school and camp programs to benefit children and youth in a variety of important ways. Through quality program experiences children gain social skills, a sense of self-efficacy, meaningful relationships and connections to their communities, and improve their academic achievement as well. That commitment to quality drives the city’s efforts to achieve and maintain the highest national standards for our programs. continued on page 2
Walk and Roll to School
OCT. 5 See page 15
3 athletics 6 tennis 8 active adults 9 after school 14 calendar & open gym 16 youth classes
ARTZ FOR THE HARP see page 9