On April 4, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced that 61 organizations in 18 counties have been awarded more than $27 million in funding under the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) grant program. This funding is available to establish and/or support community learning centers that provide academic, artistic, and cultural enrichment opportunities for students and their families.

The 21st CCLC program provides opportunities for communities to establish or to expand activities in community learning centers that:
-Provide opportunities for academic enrichment, including tutorial services to help students, particularly students who attend low-performing schools, to meet state academic standards;
-Offer students a broad array of additional services, programs, and activities, such as youth development activities, tutoring, service learning, nutrition and health education, drug and violence prevention programs, counseling programs, arts, music, physical fitness and wellness programs, technology education programs, financial literacy programs, environmental literacy programs, mathematics, science, career and technical programs, internship or apprenticeship programs, and other ties to an in-demand industry sector or occupation for high school students that are designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program of participating students; and
-Offer families opportunities for active and meaningful engagement in their children’s education, including opportunities for literacy and related educational development.

These opportunities must occur during non-school hours or periods when school is not in session to help students attending high-poverty and low-performing schools to meet state and local standards in core academic subjects. Centers must also offer students a broad array of activities that can complement their regular academic programs and literacy and other educational services to their families.

The 21st CCLC program is authorized under Title IV, Part B of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and reauthorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015.

The list of awardees can be found on PDE’s website.