Bobcat Academy adds opportunities for students

It didn’t take long for the Berryville School District to get a stamp of approval from a student attending the inaugural Bobcat Academy after-school program.

Day two to be exact. “There was a student where his mother actually came to pick him up early and he was upset because he didn’t want to leave,” said Dr. Tammi Davis, the district’s director of curriculum and federal programs. “I thought that was a great sign.”

Thanks to a grant that now totals $200,000, the Bobcat Academy has 100 students attending in kindergarten through fifth grade on Monday through Thursday each week.

“The kids are having a great time and seem like they’re enjoying it.” Davis said. “I think so far we’re off to a great start.”

The district learned it was awarded the Arkansas Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant earlier this year and quickly focused on the need for an after-school program, Davis said.

“Spring of 2023 is when we applied but we had discussed the need for an after- school program for kids at the K-5 level the previous year,” Davis said. “At the time we were having conversations the deadline to apply for the grant had passed but we had it on our radar for this year.”

The Bobcat Academy will help students who are behind in reading get to where they need to be but will also offer music, art, social/emotional support and STEM activities, including science, technology, engineering and math.

“The teachers look at the student’s data and will see if there is an area that they need extra help with or support with,” Davis said. “Literacy and math they’ll be given additional support and will be available if they need extra help with their homework.”

Field trips and hands-on learning also will be a part of the Bobcat Academy, Davis said.

“Under the STEM part of it we have in the grant that we would like to purchase some drone kits that students will be able to build and also robots, that type of thing,” she said. “We’re just trying to expose them to robotics, different things like that.”

When the district was initially awarded the grant it was for $150,000, Davis said. Since then, another $50,000 was given to the district. That money is used for curriculum, salaries of staff and transportation for students.

Students also will get a light meal each day.

“This is the first time we’ve ever had anything like this,” Berryville School District Superintendent Owen Powell said. “We have had in the past some after- school tutoring that typically ran for 20 to 30 minutes and it was geared more toward high school students.

“I think it’s a fantastic opportunity for our kids and I’m sure it helps parents out because we are feeding a meal during that time and they’re going to be exposed to a lot of other things. They’re going to be exposed to science and math, history. They’ll do field trips, just a lot of different things. It’s a great thing for our kids. I’m anxious to see the results of it, but I really do think that it’s going to help some of our students get back up to grade level.”

Davis agreed the impact on students who are behind is going to be a key to the program’s success.

“A huge part of our focus is reading and making sure that the kids are where they need to be,” Davis said. “Conversations around the reading piece … and what we can do when students are behind because we only have so much time during the school day to provide interventions and keep kids caught up that might be struggling.”

The program begins when school lets out at 3:15 p.m. and ends at 5:30 p.m. Starting this week the academy will be held entirely at Berryville Intermediate School, Davis said.

“Everyone is in one location and that’s going to be helpful with parents as far as picking them up, because sometimes we’ll have parents who need to pick the kids up early.”

The feedback from parents has been positive so far, Davis said.

“We had a huge response to the survey we had parents submit,” she said. “I’ve had several parents say that they’re just super excited about it and it does save some parents money. After-school care, or child care in general, is hard to find.”

It’s a goal for Bobcat Academy to be a staple for the district for years to come, Davis said.

“The kids are talking about it and other kids hear it,” Davis said. “I think that will help grow the program in the future.”