
The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) After School Program Grant serves as a supplementary program that can enhance state or local reform efforts to improve student academic achievement and support overall student development. According to the U.S. Department of Education (USDE), the purpose of the program is to create community learning centers that provide academic enrichment opportunities for children. A community learning center is an entity that assists students outside school hours or when school is not in session to complement the student’s regular academic program. The 21st CCLC funds will create and expand out-of-school-time programs that offer extended learning opportunities for children and their families.
Title IV, Part B, specifies that 21st CCLC funds are to be used to provide opportunities for communities to establish or expand activities in community learning centers that do the following:
Activities provided by the After School Programs may include but are not limited to the following types of activities, which must be offered in each of the four components, as listed below: