South Shore Stars, a nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive early education and youth programs through a family-support approach and which has served as a resource for working parents on the South Shore since 1970, recently announced that the organization was awarded a two-year, $50,000/year grant from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The grant fulfills a goal of Stars’ recently announced Three-Year Strategic Plan of expanding Youth in Motion (YIM) by over 50%. YIM will now serve 60 ninth graders and 15 tenth through twelfth graders, and will add 15 rising ninth graders to its summer program.
Youth in Motion is an out-of-school time youth development program that provides academic support and innovative enrichment activities to Randolph High School students, with a curriculum that is engaging and relevant and intentionally supports the social-emotional learning skills critical to students’ success. Students who attend YIM are referred by school day staff as being considered at-risk for retention in the ninth grade, a significant indicator for dropping out of high school.
Since 2008, YIM has served over 300 high-needs students and has a 99% graduation rate. Key factors of this success are the strong, supportive relationships staff build with students and the intentional focus on supporting social-emotional learning skills such as perseverance, communication and leadership in all program activities.
This award was part of $8.2 million requested from the Increased Access to Quality Afterschool and Summer Learning Programs Grant Program, with only $3.4 million available for allocation. Overall, the grant process was highly competitive, and South Shore Stars’ Youth in Motion program was one of only 62 (out of 152) programs that were awarded funding.
“We’re thrilled to have been selected as one of the grant recipients and excited to expand our very popular YIM program to even more children,” said Sheri Adlin, executive director of South Shore Stars. “We are so grateful for the Department of Education’s consideration and look forward to including even more high schoolers in this impactful program.”
About South Shore Stars
South Shore Stars is a not-for-profit organization that has been a resource for working parents on the South Shore since 1970. The organization’s two interconnected goals are to enable parents to work, and support each child to thrive. Stars’ mission is to provide comprehensive early education and youth programs through a family-support approach. They strive to enhance the development of children from economically and culturally diverse families through collaboration with parents, schools, and local communities.
South Shore Stars has embraced and nurtured thousands of South Shore families and children since their first center-based pre-school childcare center located in Quincy center. Today, they annually serve over 1,200 children and youth age newborn through 18 years in a family child care system, Early Head Start, preschool centers, school age centers, middle school programs, a high school program, and summer camp, throughout the communities of Braintree (family child care system only), Holbrook (Early Head Start and family child care system only), Quincy, Randolph, Weymouth, and Westwood (summer camp) and surrounding cities and towns. Stars’ core goals are to enable parents to work, help each child reach their full development potential, improve academic achievement for students at-risk of academic failure and facilitate positive youth development. Stars recognizes the importance of supporting and partnering with parents for children to be the best versions of themselves.
South Shore Stars’ main office is located at 200 Middle Street, East Weymouth, MA. For more information, please call 781-331-8505 or visit www.southshorestars.org.
