By Kathianne Boniello
When the final bell rings in schools throughout Queens, many go dark, but at PS 115 in Floral Park the lights stay on and the building remains full of students and teachers for one of School District 26’s most vibrant after-school programs.
Parents joined their children and the program’s staff last week at a special open house to celebrate the nearly four-year-old PS 115 after-school program, an event which drew local elected officials as well as District 26 Superintendent Claire McIntee and Queens Panel for Education Representative Evita Belmonte. State Assemblyman Mark Weprin (D-Bayside) and his brother, City Councilman David Weprin (D-Hollis), also attended.
Addressing the crowd of parents and officials, McIntee recalled when the after-school program, which is run with funding from the non-profit The After-School Corp. and the help of the Samuel Field Y in Little Neck, kicked off. Last Thursday’s event was part of the national “Lights on After School” day, showcasing the importance of after-school programs.
“It was a new venture and we didn’t know how it was going to work out,” she said of the free PS 115 program, which now serves between 175 and 180 students. “You are a model for other after-school programs.”
The After-School Corp. operates 27 programs in Queens, including three in the Bayside-based School District 26. The non-profit follows a model which requires a school to build a relationship with a community-based organization such as the Samuel Field Y, a group which then coordinates funding and staffing for a school’s program.
Steven Goodman, executive director of the Samuel Field Y, said that at the time the Y and the After-School Corp. were looking to establish a program, it was McIntee who directed them to PS 115 at 80-57 261st St. The school, Goodman said, was one of the first in Queens to get such an after-school program.
“PS 115 had no after-school program,” Goodman said. “McIntee suggested the school because they had a group of parents who had dedicated their time and energy to try to bring something together for their children.”
David Weprin pointed out how after-school programs and the needs of families have evolved over the years.
“When we went to school it was 9 to 3 and after school meant you were being punished,” he said. “This is really part of the school system, and it’s not a 9 to 3 system anymore.”
Parents attending the showcase, who got a chance to tour the program, praised the staff and PS 115 after-school Program Director Iris Shaw.
“I picked this school because of this program,” said parent Yvette Godreau, who sends her daughter Nicole, 8, to PS 115. “We’re both working parents and it was so important to find a program that was exciting, productive and multicultural.”
Godreau and other parents said their children are so involved in the activities offered by the after-school program, from arts and crafts to origami to field trips to Madison Square Garden for New York Knicks games, that the youngsters get upset if their mothers or fathers come too early to pick them up.
Shaw, who has operated the PS 115 after-school program since its 1999 inception, said the growing number of working parents makes such programs a necessity.
“By 1997, 78 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 13 had working mothers,” Shaw said. “There is a strong need for society to provide a comprehensive system that aims to provide support and services for children and their families during after-school hours.”
Annette Jarrett has two children in the school’s program, which runs between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. each school day.
“They absolutely love it,” Jarrett said. “And they don’t have to be one of the 500 million kids who don’t have anywhere to go after school.”
Manta Naidu, whose daughter Shamika attends the program, said the diverse activities and structure of the after-school day have helped her child grow up.
“It’s actually taught Shamika and even us that after-school programs are fun.”
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 157.
