GOAL - Giving Open Access to Learning, is a New York City based nonprofit program established in 2003 to provide structured educational and motivational programs that help children from underserved communities. This student-centered after-school program, housed at P.S. 171 in East Harlem, serves 80 students in grades three through eight during the regular school year, Monday through Thursday and on Saturday. GOAL programming represents an early intervention strategy to help under-served children succeed in school so they will have more opportunities to determine the quality of their lives and to make meaningful contributions to their communities. An important direct program benefit is the establishment of a pattern of successful student behavior in primary school that, in turn, has been shown to correlate to the increased probability of success in succeeding school years.
Our program curriculum integrates technology, project-based learning and real-world experiences to expose students to a world of opportunities otherwise not available to them. Our program methodology is aligned with the Search Institute’s framework of Developmental Assets. Program attributes include strong school and parental support, expert teachers, a committed board of directors, and impressive feedback.
GOAL has a full-time presence in P.S. 171, operating September through June (10 months), Monday through Thursday (from 3:10 pm -5:10 pm) plus Saturday. During the weekday program, students are separated into five groups of ten students from varied grades. Two groups meet every Monday and Thursday: three additional groups meet every Tuesday and Wednesday. One teacher and one teacher aide are assigned to each group. There are five teachers and two teacher aides on staff.
All GOAL students are invited to participate in the Saturday program from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm which incorporates organized sports activities, use of the computer lab for projects and research, arts and crafts projects, and trips to New York’s many cultural and historical sites. Activities take place in the schoolyard in the early fall and spring, and in the gym in the winter. Two teachers, two teacher aides, and two student aides supervise the Saturday program.
GOAL teachers engage their participants through cross-curricular education, reinforcing an historical lesson with a sketching exercise, and enriching written material with student-produced film adaptations. Focused units on pre-determined topics and themes allow for overlapping and content mastery. Program courses this year are intended to develop communications and arts skills, self-confidence, resourcefulness and a positive view for the future. Courses focus on experienced-based learning and life-skills and include: drama, African percussion, guitar, filmmaking, computer lab, cultural studies, and literacy.