How NVUSD Drives our Work!

The work of the Club is very different from that of school, but a growing partnership between NVUSD and the Club continues to demonstrate their commitment to developing students as a whole by positioning Clubs to directly impact the social and emotional development of our children. If you’re a parent, you probably understand that the development of children is a shared experience. They grow through key relationships with teachers, with mentors, with friends and relatives, and of course at home with us as parents. Children, however, don’t grow in parts and that’s why a holistic approach to youth development is so important.

Emerging from the pandemic it became very apparent that students had lost the rhythm and routine of the school day. They were overstimulated in groups and anxious in an atmosphere of conflicting opinions regarding what was and was not safe. This often made it difficult for students to focus in class and that made the work of teachers more difficult. “They have no idea how to work as a group.” “When they walk into class they drop their things on the floor as they make their way to their desks. It takes us an hour every morning just to make sure that their things are stowed in their cubbies so that we can get to work.” These things seem small but they have a direct and cumulative effect on the student experience and their ability to learn. That’s where the Boys & Girls Club really makes it’s impact; we provide services and enrichment that focuses on the social and emotional development of the child. The evolution of this partnership allowed teachers and Club staff to address key deficits jointly with the Club focused on emotional development and teachers prioritizing academic recovery. The clarifying of this work created an ecosystem of support at schools with Club-run afterschool programs over the 21/22 school year and was demonstrated in declining behavioral issues and students who were better prepared to learn.

That success led to an expanded partnership between the Club and NVUSD in the form of Summer For All. Summer school is a critical component in the academic recovery of students but a shortage of qualified teachers left NVUSD poorly resourced to effect the kind of sweeping investments required. “We all recognized that we needed to do more, and that we could accomplish more by

consolidating our efforts supportively,” said Matt Manning of NVUSD. The result was an expanded and revolutionary partnership. NVUSD allocated state funding and space so that the Boys & Girls Club could dramatically expand its summer operations and provide full day care coupled with programs and enrichment to 2,000 children over six weeks of summer. These programs were offered free of charge and more importantly they provided a framework through which NVUSD could maximize the impact of credentialed summer school teachers by providing targeted intervention to students without getting bogged down in the primary care of those children. This cooperative approach had never been attempted locally but the impact of that collaboration resulted in an incredible opportunity for 2,000 students; the benefit of which is again being reflected in classrooms as we return to school this year. “You can definitely see a difference between the kids who did and didn't attend summer programs,” said one teacher a week after the school year began.

This partnership continues to expand as evidenced by new programs opening at Browns Valley Elementary School, Redwood Middle School, and Unidos Middle School. With the addition of these programs the Club has expanded its enrollment to 2,200 students district wide and that number is expected to grow dramatically in the coming months. “These are incredible opportunities for our students and we’re excited by our partnership with the Boys & Girls Club,” said Pat Andry-Jennings, Assistant Superintendent Instructional Services at Napa Valley Unified School District. It’s important to note that the Club and NVUSD are approaching this partnership with intentional growth. The successes of last school year set the stage for incredible summer programs. The Club’s hiring efforts to staff those programs will have a direct impact on its transition to the 22/23 school year by ensuring that these programs are fully staffed with engaged, trained, and high caliber mentors. “We’re only just getting started,” the Club’s Executive Director Greg Bouillerce said. “We’re eager to expand the number of children served but more than this we’re elevating the nature of our programs- Robotics programs, music programs, mental health services, everything is on the table for us at the moment. We believe firmly that if kids are placed in engaging environments and those places are staffed with incredible mentors, that great futures are the result. We’re blessed to have NVUSD as an avid partner in this pursuit.”