Four after school programs managed by the Collaborative for Educational Services (CES) have been awarded Exemplary status from the Exemplary Grant Program of the Massachusetts 21st CCLC Exemplary program, supported by federal funds. “I am extremely proud of every CES after school program.” said Chris Taggart, Director of 21st Century Learning Centers, “In this case, the staff at these four sites have engaged in multiple years worth of professional development in the name of continuous program improvement.”  

CES after school programs awarded Exemplary status this year are located at Sheffield Elementary School of Gill-Montague regional school district; Palmer Middle School, Palmer Public Schools; and Maple and Pepin Elementary Schools, both of Easthampton Public Schools. Taggart explains that “each site is constantly tweaking program design elements to further enhance services for select students.” Select students are those who have struggled academically on local and state testing scores. “The competitive Exemplary Grant Program is to expand and enhance a statewide network of high quality 21st CCLC programs that serve as mentors to new and existing programs. Our goal at CES is to be an active member of this select group each and every year,” said Taggart.

“Every three years our 21st CCLC programs are involved in a highly competitive grant process to describe our continuous program improvement, to explain our ability to serve in a mentoring capacity to others in the state, and to highlight particular areas of strength from which others can learn.  Currently over 70% of our CES 21st CCLC sites have achieved the Exemplary status!”

Learn more about the CES 21st Century Learning After School Programs at https://www.collaborative.org/programs/after-school