5-year Plan Tackles Keiki Class Needs
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Del.icio.usThe Castle Complex has received a substantial boost in federal funds to help shore up its students’ academic performance over a five-year period - after school hours.
The Child and Family Enrichment (CAFE) grant aims to make Castle High and all of its feeder schools into 21st Century Community Learning Centers for all grades and for all students needing extra help.
Teachers already have been recruited and trained for the program, which began last semester, but more helping hands are still needed, according to project manager Helene Tom.
“Our ongoing concern is to get personnel,” said Tom, a retired elementary school principal,now based in an office at Ben Parker Elementary School. “There are lots of students on the waiting list.”
Specifically, she said,Ahuimanu, Heeia and Kapunahala schools could use more CAFE teachers.
The complex applied for the grant to address the many acknowledged needs among Kaneohe’s public school children:
1) The population has three times as many special education students as the state average.
2) There is an alarming achievement gap (30 percent) between low-income students and their peers in the classroom.
3) Four out of five students are not proficient in math, and more than half are not proficient in reading.
The grant covers pay and training for the instructors - “casual hires,” retired educators, etc. - who earn an hourly wage of $12 to $22. Training is ongoing, and a teaching degree is not required.
“All the books are provided as well as materials,“Tom added.“The teachers just follow through with the lessons.” To apply, call her at 542-3327 after 2 p.m.
Three “blocks” of services are offered in various arrangements at each school campus: homework tutorial time; LitART, combining award-winning children’s literature with reading strategies and varied creative experiences; and LitART Extension, which includes field trips, computer work, etc.
The program receives $539,000 for the first three years, and declining amounts for years 4 and 5.
The goal is to serve at least 600 students throughout the 10 complex schools, for up to three hours a day, five days a week.
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