Due to consistently low attendance, Town Hall recently cancelled the primary-school, after-care program for the coming year.
Idyllwild Community Center Program Director Bob Lewis and ICC Recreation Committee Chair Pete Capparelli assure Idyllwild parents that the afterschool Kinder Program will continue in the fall in its current format.
Scott Payne, coordinator of Hemet Unified School District, advises, “Our SAFE program is poised to absorb kids formerly attending the Idyllwild Town Hall’s afterschool program.” He further advised of the following program details: “The Hemet Unified School District afterschool programs are available by virtue of an ASES grant, [After School Education and Safety]. The terms of this grant provide three key elements which form a curriculum and require three key stipulations of parents.”
The first element of the curriculum called Clubs offers fun with educational components, for example, cooking classes that require perfecting measuring techniques, dance that integrates musical knowledge and metering, or sports that teach rules of the game, sportsmanship and scoring. The second required component is Academic Enrichment in the form of tutoring and homework completion with availability of the computer lab or Google laptops enabling students to participate in readers’ theater. The third element is Snacks.
Each club runs six weeks and finishes with a concluding event. For example, last year, the drama club performed a play at the school and attended a field trip to see “Beauty and the Beast” in Temecula. Each club’s focus is dependent on the skills of each respective instructor.
The program is no charge to families; the three stipulations that are part of the grant’s funding requirements require parents to attend an orientation, agree to children’s daily attendance from 3 p.m. with pickup at 6 p.m. Kids whose families agree and attend orientation are given registration priority.
Parents who register for an earlier pickup or don’t attend orientation are wait-listed. In Idyllwild, SAFE is funded for 80 kids with a ratio of one instructor per 20 children, and program space, as of this issue, is still available.
Payne would like parents to realize daily attendance provides program continuity for participating kids. On sports days and three times during each six-week period, kids can be picked up by parents early for any reason. This provision enables doctors’ appointments or provides flexibility for personal reasons.
Payne added, “Hemet Unified schools also has pilot programs in place with the ultimate goal of offering meals for students attending all schools in their districts. When the program phases into Idyllwild, it will also be offered to non-students 18 years or younger if they arrive during the specified times.”
Refer to the Hemet Unified School District webpage for details of the phased rollout of this program and SAFE program registration.
This summer before school restarts, ICC is offering its ummer camp. It begins Monday, June 11, and will continue through early August. The camp operates Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and provides arts and crafts, sports and field trips. The cost is $15 per day or $60 per week.