Hidden Gems: Meet Lacer Afterschool Programs

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lacer Afterschool Programs. Them and their team share their story with us below:

L.A.C.E.R. Afterschool Programs is a FREE afterschool program founded by educators, community activists, and artists in 1995. L.A.C.E.R., at its core, believes that all students in the Los Angeles public school system should have access to quality education, academic support, excellent arts programming, organized athletic activities, and graduation preparation that is otherwise unavailable or unaffordable.

Over 28 years, we have grown from being a grassroots organization with a grassroots board of directors to a more professional fundraising board with an agency budget of almost $3 million. We are excited to continue to grow in the coming years.

We proudly serve the students who attend eight (8) L.A.U.S.D. public schools across Los Angeles. Our middle schools are Joseph Le Conte (90028), Bancroft (90038), Irving STEAM Magnet (90065), and Thomas Starr King (90029). Our High Schools are Hollywood (90028), Fairfax (90046), North Hollywood (91601) and John Marshall (90027).

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
As one of the first afterschool program providers in Los Angeles, we wanted to go into the middle schools to support that age group because of the service gap, as much of the support was already happening at the elementary and high school levels. We selected schools that were failing, had the lowest scores, or had the highest level of poverty.

We had to earn the trust of the principals, who thought we might open the program and close it soon after. As a pioneer, there was no template for us, but we earned their trust by providing services every day and collaborating with them, their teachers, and the parents on what they needed at each school site to bring about success.

Today, many of our middle schools are feeder schools to our high schools, so our students can participate in the L.A.C.E.R. program from 8th through 12th grade and have that continuity of support and access to our programs. As a result of the services we provide, L.A.C.E.R. students attend school more, connect to the community around them, get better grades, make friends, and 97% graduate high school.

We’ve been impressed with LACER Afterschool Programs, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
LACER Afterschool Programs provides award-winning, FREE classes, and workshops online and on-campus at eight Los Angeles, California public schools. The opportunities we provide include Music, Fitness and Conditioning, Visual Art, Dance, Discussion Groups, Driver’s Ed., Tutoring, Theater, College and Career support, Parent Workshops, Science Club, and much more!

We specialize in offering the next level of opportunity beyond what the school or the community can provide. We aim to level the playing field for young people in Los Angeles in public schools so that LACER students get what other students in a more affluent area might receive.

Our partnership with the school and the school district allows us to have some unique offerings not available at other schools. We have intermural tournaments amongst our schools, and we can provide high-quality arts instruction regularly, rather than a one-time-only or a monthly special.

We’ve created a tutoring program for small and large groups that help students achieve academic success by identifying missing blocks in their learning, resulting in higher grades in that subject area. Overall, students who attend LACER learn new things, make friends, get better grades, and graduate.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Finding funding was challenging in our first year when we had to prove the value of our program to potential funders and supporters. However, we showed our commitment to providing value through our classes and meeting our students where they were, including dealing head-on with racial conflicts on campus. We’ve since learned how to seek support from multi-year funding sources – individuals, corporations, and grants- so that our programs are consistent and sustainable.

Every year, our program assesses our class offerings and impact. With that continuous quality improvement in mind, we are always willing to take risks with programming by offering new classes, trying a new approach, or cutting classes that no longer serve our students’ needs and interests. We have learned that students vote with their feet, so we remain flexible enough to make changes while staying true to our mission.

No matter the risks, at every level of our organization, we remain focused on continually building a safe and engaging program for all our students to be happy and healthy. We are as transparent as possible with our constituents and supporters so that they know our commitment to do the right thing for our students every step of the way, even if we face challenges. We are grateful for everyone who has supported LACER Afterschool Programs these past 28 years. We are excited to continue to grow by leaps and bounds and to welcome new partners and supporters to help us continue to fuel our work with young people in Los Angeles.

Pricing:

• FREE

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lacerafterschool.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lacerafterschool/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LACERstars/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/l-a-c-e-r-afterschool-programs
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LACERstars
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LACERArts

Image Credits
Aaron Fallon