Valley Heights Community Education: Helping their rural community through the pandemic

This blog post is adapted from a program spotlight in "How Afterschool is Supporting Learning and Recovery During COVID-19," a June 2020 issue brief from the Afterschool Alliance.

Started in the mid-1990s as a response to more households having both parents working outside the home, Valley Heights Community Education is located in a rural town in Kansas, serving roughly 70 students in grades pre-K-6th grade. The original afterschool program was funded through the Kansas Afterschool Enhancement grant, and in the early 2000s, the program began receiving 21st CCLC funding, which enabled them to begin a summer program.

Over the years, the program has grown with the changing needs of the community, and recently has adopted a focus on robotics and college and career readiness. During a typical school year, students in Valley Heights Community Education take part in academic programming, college and career readiness activities, and robotics. However, in response to COVID-19, the program has transitioned to provide in-kind supports such as meal and material deliveries, home visits, and personal videos.

A typical day in response to COVID-19

In response to COVID-19, during the 2019-2020 school year Valley Heights adapted its programming to provide daily meals and school work deliveries to their students and families, as well as conducted regular check-ins with families. In implementing social distancing in its programming, Valley Heights substituted its typical summer robotics offerings with outside learning, physical activity, and social interaction. Students in grades 4-6 will be using The Walking Classroom, a preloaded MP3 player with podcasts that cover subjects in language arts, social studies, and science, in addition to more impactful messages on topics such as discrimination, health and wellness, and thoughtful decision-making. Further, rather than the program’s usual 50 minute rotations per activity, students will spend more time on projects and dive deeper into what they are working on with activities such as character education, community service, and financial literacy. Students’ health and safety is a priority for Valley Heights, with the program implementing CDC protocols, such as spacing desks six feet apart, keeping kids in their same classrooms, using water bottle filling stations instead of water fountains, regular disinfecting of bathrooms, classrooms, and other surfaces, and educating students on proper hygiene.

Outcomes

Since schools have closed in the state of Kansas, Valley Heights has served a greater number of meals than what they serve during a typical school year. As of early June, they served 16,662 breakfasts and 22,126 lunches, which averages to 357 lunches and 269 breakfasts a day to community members. Further, working with the school district, the program has helped the school counselor, along with the family advocate, conduct more than 300 home visits to students in the program, strengthening the relationships between families, the school, and Valley Heights Community Education.

Program characteristics

Valley Heights has supported its students and the community since schools closed in March 2020. While the program did not offer any daily virtual programming between March and June 2020, out of concerns about overwhelming families and internet constraints, they continued outreach to families to stay connected and provide needed supports. High school mentors and staff members sent out personal videos to students, and bus drivers delivered meals to families in need. To best serve their rural families, many of whom have limited internet access, Valley Heights provided the option for families to receive hard copies of school work and other information from the school to be delivered with their meals in order to ensure that all families received the necessary information, regardless of internet access.

One of the unique additions to the program has been including the school counselor and family advocate into their work. Through home “front porch” visits, the counselor and family advocate have been able to check in on students and their families, helping connect families to available resources, addressing mental health needs, and keeping them up-to-date on school-related information. Due to the positive response from families, Valley Heights is expanding this service through July. Additionally, since many families have been drastically impacted financially, they have partnered with the school family advocate to help provide necessary resources to students and their families, with everything from diapers to additional meals.

In the summer, the program was able to operate in-person. In response to both CDC guidelines and the transportation challenges that exist in rural communities, instead of operating in one central location, Valley Heights opened up buildings in neighboring towns. This shift in operations reduces the need for transportation and allows class sizes to be smaller to maintain social distancing.

Additionally, the program operates two food distribution sites, which enables them to serve more families in the community As the only program in the area distributing meals, having more than just the one site will allow better access, as the neighboring towns rely on these meals as well.