Middle School Learning Center Initiative

Request for Proposals

Collective for Youth

Middle School Learning Center Initiative

School Year 2012-2013

Summer of 2013

Proposal Due Date

May 31, 2012 4:00 PM

Only completed proposals will be accepted

Introduction

Collective for Youth is a non-profit intermediary organization dedicated to creating quality partnerships between schools and community organizations. It is our mission to promote out-of-school-time (OST) programming across the metro community and partner with the Greater Omaha After School Alliance (GOASA) to provide high quality professional development to OST staff. It's our belief that a strong community wide OST system has six essential components: committed leadership, a private coordinating entity, multiyear planning, reliable information, expanded participation, and commitment to quality.

Collective for Youth is the organizing entity for approximately 60 OST providers in the greater metro area. Our focus is to create a stronger linkage between the school day and the after school hours by forging critical partnerships between school districts and high quality OST programs. We also offer critical trainings on a variety of topics supporting positive youth development.

Collective for Youth is also responsible for the provision of OST activities to more than 2,000 middle school students in seven Omaha Public Schools. Each site has a community based coordinating agency responsible for providing after school programs. However, it’s Collective For Youth's role to ensure students receive high quality OST programming by challenging OST organizations to commit to providing innovative and engaging enrichment activities.

Request for Proposal

This Request for Proposals (RFP) is for OST nonprofits interested in developing and delivering middle school programs in OPS middle school sites during 2012-2013 school year and the summer of 2013. Students will be assigned to after school activities in six week increments scheduled throughout the school year. All sites will follow the same six-week schedule. It is important to plan programming accordingly.

Collective for Youth only contracts with nonprofit OST organizations to deliver hands-on and project-based out-of-school-time (OST) programs for Omaha middle school students. This approach provides teens with opportunities to learn from OST professionals in order to develop their talents, while gaining critical skills for work, college and beyond.

Collective for Youth is offering an informational session on May 7th for OST entities interested in learning more about the Middle School Learning Center Program Provider Request for Funding. New Applicants and applicants that have not previously received funding are required to attend this informative session. The session is being held from 10 a.m.-11a.m. at the Jesse Lowe Conference Center on the 3rd floor of the City/County Building located at 1819 Farnam Street. This informational meeting will be followed by an optional meeting from 11a.m.-12 a.m. for the providers and the middle school site directors to connect and share more about their programming.

Middle School Learning Center

Request for Funding Proposal

2012 – 2013 School Year/Summer 2013

Cover Sheet

Provider Information

Provider Name: ______

Primary Contact Person: ______

Address: ______

City: ______State: ______Zip: ______

Phone: ______Fax: ______

Email: ______

Organizational 501(c)3 Tax ID Number (EIN): ______

(please attach copy of IRS Determination Letter)

Program Information

Title of proposed program: ______

Total amount requested: ______

Estimated cost per child per individual session: ______

In which middle schools would you prefer to conduct your program?

(This grant will only support school based programming at the following sites during the 2012-2013 school year and summer 2013)

Middle Schools serving grades 5-8

□ KingScienceMiddle School(3720 Florence Blvd.)

□ MarrsMagnetMiddle School(5619 S. 19 St.)

□ MortonMagnetMiddle School(4606 Terrace Dr.)

Middle Schools serving grades 7-8

□ McMillanMagnetMiddle School(3802 Redick Ave.)

□ MonroeMiddle School(5105 Bedford Ave.)

□ NorrisMiddle School(2235 S. 46 St.)

□ Lewis and Clark Middle School (6901 Burt St.)

Are you willing to be flexible with site locations based on Middle School Learning Center Initiative needs? □ yes □ no

This program is primarily (check all that apply)

□Arts/Cultural □ Athletics □ Health/Fitness

□ Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

□ Other, please list ______

Brief program description

(1-2 sentences explaining youth development focus.)

Program Information and Staffing

Duration of program

It is expected that you will provide programming during the full 36 weeks of the 2012 – 2013 school year and six weeks during the summer 2013, if providing summer programming. Students will be assigned to after school activities in six week increments scheduled throughout the school year so plan programming accordingly. All sites will follow the same six-week schedule.

Please indicate the best fit for your program:

A one-day program (please check all possible days)

□ Mon □ Tues □ Wed □Thur □ Fri

A two-day program (please check preference)

□ Mon/Wed □Tues/Thur □ Other: ______

A three day program (please check preference)

□ Mon/Wed/Fri □Mon/Tues/Thur □ Other: ______

□ A five-day program

What age level is your programming appropriate for?

□ 5th grade □ 6th grade □ 7th grade □ 8th grade

Can your programming be adapted to serve all grade levels? □ Yes □ No

Please indicate the length of your program:

□ 1 hour □ 1.5 hours □ 2 hours

Facilities

Please indicate what type of room or facility you need to run your program.

Check all that are suitable.

□ Gymnasium □ Auditorium/Stage □ Classroom □ Art room

□ Library □ Computer Lab □ Kitchen □ Other: ______

Equipment/Supplies

Please indicate what equipment or supplies you need to run your program and

whether or not you will provide it.

□ I will provide all equipment.

□ My program needs the following equipment:

If equipment is needed, please describe why it is essential. For sustainability purposes, use equipment available at the school whenever possible.

Incentives

Please work with the Middle School Learning Center Coordinating Agency at each site to determine available incentives for use in your program.

Staffing Information and Requirements

*Agencies applying for this grant will be required to do background checks on personnel involved in MSLC programming. Agencies are expected to keep a copy of the background check on file during the duration of the program and for 3 years afterwards.

Collective for Youth will not permit any personnel of any provider in any capacity (staff, volunteer or other) to provide any after school enrichment opportunities to students if that person is on the Nebraska State Patrol Sex Offender Registry or the United States Justice Department DRU Sjodin National Sex Offender Public website, or has a felony record. You may be requested to submit copies of background checks upon approval of funding.

Please list the names and titles of all program instructors and substitutes.

Briefly describe your plan to provide a substitute if a primary instructor isabsent due to an emergency or other reason.

Briefly describe specific youth development skills and/or experience eachinstructor has with middle school youth.

Do you conduct background checks on all of your program instructors and substitutes?

□ Yes □ No How often? ______

Program Description

Mission and Vision Statement

Clearly and concisely describe your organization’s or project’s mission and

state why your program would be a valuable part of the Middle School

LearningCenter Initiative. (3-5 sentences total)

Program Description and Curriculum

Clearly and concisely describe your program’s daily schedule and program activities. Include specific skills youth will learn and any final projects, outcomes, and/or performances. If you have not received funding from us before, please provide an example of a lesson plan you plan on using.

Learning Goals

What learning goals do you have for youth?

Does your program integrate nutrition/health and/or physical activity? If so,

how?

How will you link the school day curriculum with your after-school programming?

How will you involve program participants’ families?

How do you plan on attracting, retaining,and developing middle school youth?

If your organization has been previously funded, what will you do to modify your program to

attract youth to return to your program?

The Middle School Learning Center Initiative would like for program providers to intentionally incorporate the Search Institute’s 40 Development Assets into its programming, particularly within five condensed areas of focus:

• commitment to learning;
• service to others;
• constructive and creative use of time;
• hopeful view of purposeful future; and
• healthy lifestyle and relationships

The 40 Developmental Assets are positive experiences and qualities that help young people

become caring, responsible adults. More information can be found at

and Please outline specific assets your program plans to

implement from the priority assets identified above.

Budget

Budget should reflect programming costs for the 2012-2013 school yearor 2012-2013 school year and 2013 summer programming combined if applicable.

Funding requests are based on the total number of hours programming is offered and the number of students served.

Please use the following charts as a guide for the amount requested:

2012 – 2013 School Year is30 weeks

Summer programming is six weeks:

Note:

• Hours do not need to be per day. For instance, a program could meet two hours per day/two days per week.
• If your program costs less than the price per student, your request should reflect your cost.
• If your programming costs exceed the allowable amount, you may submit a justification for a reasonable amount of additional funding. Additional funding may be awarded only if the need is clearly demonstrated.
• If funding is awarded, final disbursement of funding will be adjusted based on actual number of youth served.

This application is for:

□ 2012 – 2013 school year (August 20, 2012 – May 24, 2013)

□ 2012 – 2013 school year and 2013 summer (August 20, 2012 – July, 2013)

Please indicate how many schools this budget will serve: ______

Staff budget should reflect all staff requirements. MSLCI staff are at each site for support but are not always available to participate the entire time of programming. The goal is to maintain a 1:15 ratio. If you will be serving more youth, plan appropriately for an increase in staff.

A 20% match is required (either cash or in-kind) and should be reflected in the budget proposal. Matching funds are the dollars the organization will contribute to the project. Donations of supplies, volunteer hours, or other in-kind contributions can be used to fulfill the required match.

Category

Grant Request

Matching Funds

Total Cost

*Indirect costs are costs of an organization that are not readily assignable to a particular project, but are necessary to the operation of the organization and the performance of the project.

Detail of other costs associated with the program:

Total grant request: $______

Total match: $______

Total project cost: $______

What is your plan for long-term sustainability within the Middle School Learning Center program? (i.e. how will your organization seek additional funding to continue your program?)

Budget Narrative

Please describe in one page or less, a clear justification of all programexpenses.

Letter of Commitment

Please include a letter of commitment from your organization’s Board of Directors and a

complete list of current board members.

Current Funders

Please include a list of current funders of your organization, along with amounts.

Potential Funders

Please include a list of potential funders of your organization, along with amounts.

New Applicant Section

If you have not received a grant in the past for the Middle School Learning Centers, Please complete the following section:

When applying to provide programming at any of our seven sites please obtain the signature of either the site director or the executive director of the coordinating agency. This signature will signify that you have communicated your programming ideas with the MSLC site.

The following is a list of schools and coordinating agencies.

KingScienceMiddle School(3720 Florence Blvd.)

Angela Reed, Site Director,

Signature______Date______

MarrsMagnetMiddle School(5619 S. 19 St.)

Shannan Garcia, Site Director,

Signature______Date______

McMillanMagnetMiddle School(3802 Redick Ave.)

Sarena Dacus, Site Director,

Signature______Date______

MonroeMiddle School(5105 Bedford Ave.)

Kimberly Bradford, Site Director,

Signature______Date______

MortonMagnetMiddle School(4606 Terrace Dr.)

Gwyn Williams, Site Director,

Signature______Date______

NorrisMiddle School(2235 S. 46 St.)

Claudette Samuels-Blount, Site Director,

Signature______Date______

Lewis & Clark Middle School (6901 Burt St.)

Lavone Walker, Site Director,

Signature______Date______

Submission Deadline

Applications must be received by 4 p.m. Friday, May 25, 2012at:

Collective for Youth

302 S. 36th St, Suite #104

Omaha, NE 68131

Electronic submissions are allowable but must include scanned copy of required signature page

Please send to

Only completed proposals will be accepted.

Any questions should be referred to Megan Addison, 402-932-2025 Ext. 1003

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