Peabody After School Program in Trouble

The private after school program For Kids Only is in trouble.

After a very successful start in the Burke School in 2006, Superintendent Burnett worked with the company to open locations in other Peabody schools. they now operate in the Brown, Burke, McCarthy and Welch schools.

The link to the Lynn Item story is here.

From the article:
The privately run program offers enrichment activities, tutoring, healthy snacks, and activities focused on art, science, sports and fitness for students at a cost of $21 per day. They also except vouchers and offer tuition scholarships for families in need.

“It provides an after school program for kids that would potentially go home to an empty house,” Burnett said earlier in the school year. “It’s an instructional environment with homework help, recreational activities, and peer-to-peer friend-building.”

The Peabody Schools only charge the company $1.50 per student for utility costs. However, they still need to have 18 students at each school in order to break even. Currently only the Burke and Welch are above those numbers.

The company came to the School Committee in the hopes of spreading the word to more people about this program.

Personally I would like to see this type of program be provided BY THE CITY to all students free of charge. It is a wonderful program and it serves a dire need in Peabody (especially when the mere mention of a Teen Center or Kids Center only gets comments like, "It's a great ideas BUT..." and nothing ever happens).

So if the City can't or won't fund this program I hope that enough people can see the value of this great service and take advantage of it so that it remains available to our children for years to come.