The YMCA of Alaska is starting up a new after-school program in Kodiak on Monday, Oct. 13, at East Elementary School.
The state has licensed the program to look after as many as 74 kids from kindergarten through third grade, mainly in the school’s gym, cafeteria and library. The new after-school program runs until 6 p.m. weekdays.
KIBSD Superintendent Cyndy Mika told the Kodiak Daily Mirror that the YMCA will be using the elementary school space for no cost as an in-kind contribution from the school district. That’s part of the memorandum of agreement the school district signed with YMCA-Alaska to run after-school programs at the three elementary schools in Kodiak.
Nate Root, the CEO and president of YMCA-Alaska said subsidies from the state, Tribes and the Coast Guard are available to families.
“And we go through the licensing process to help with the affordability for parents being able to apply for state financial support,” he said.
Root said the monthly cost will be $575 per kid or in some cases lower with subsidies. He adds that the organization won’t turn kids away if families can’t afford to pay for the program.
Parents who are interested in having their kids participate in the after-school program at East must register their children in advance. No drop-ins are accepted and parents must provide transportation to and from the school.
Erica Blondin, the new child care director with the Kodiak YMCA, said the organization is sharing some staff from the Kodiak Island Borough School District to help run the after-school program.
“It’s great because we have, to be able to have that partnership and share those employees because they have great training and are extremely, know the children especially if they’re in the school that they work in,” Blondin said.
The organization estimates it will need about 10 staff per site but it depends on how many kids are signed up and how many show up.
Blondin, alongside Beate Daly, helped establish the Kodiak Collaborative earlier this year as a way to bring community members and organizations together to address local child care and after-school needs. Kodiak Collaborative were the ones to first approach the YMCA of Alaska and bring them to the island.
The collaborative informally surveyed residents earlier this year, and found that the vast majority of the 200-plus respondents need after-school care in general for their school-age children.
The YMCA is also working on starting after-school programs in the next couple months at the other two elementary schools in Kodiak, Main and Peterson. Opening dates for those have not yet been determined.
More information can be found online at the YMCA Alaska’s website or the Kodiak YMCA Facebook page, or by visiting the local YMCA office at 720 Egan Way, Suite 102.
