As students in my district returned to school after the pandemic in 2021, we knew we needed to close some of their achievement gaps, particularly in the areas of literacy and math. We also had a lot of parents in our community stating their concerns that we did not have equitable, accessible and affordable before- and after-school programs in all of our buildings. As we dug in and collected data from our families, we realized we had some gaps we needed to fill: before- and after-school care in all of our buildings, wraparound services in our early childhood center, out-of-school day programming for holidays and closures, and summer programing.

One priority was to find something turnkey. Another big priority, at least from my lens, was to find a program that could support learning recovery and assist children with their social emotional development.

Champions was the one provider that had everything we were looking for: turnkey, quality programming accessible for all children. They could handle all of the staffing needs. They were flexible, they were responsive and they were wanted to work with us to build what we really needed in Cedar Rapids, where we have about 15,000 students in nearly 30 schools.

In the summer of 2022 our Champions program began and served 375 students. By the time the 2022-2023 school year started, we had before- and after-school programs in 27 buildings, serving more than 500 students. Last summer our summer program served around 500 students. This year, we are serving over 1,200 students throughout the district with before- and after-school care.

There are so many benefits to working with Champions. Students are excited to go to before- and after-school care. Families are happy because their children have a safe place to go while their parents work.

We've also seen some major changes in how Champions students interact with other students, how they're learning through play, growing their social emotional skills and making measurable academic progress.

In addition, Champions programs are affordable and, for families that struggle to make ends meet, Champions can work with them to help them access state subsidies or scholarships so every child and family can have access to their program.

Our Champions staff provide genuine, caring human beings who have the same goal as our district staff of making sure we serve students and we serve them well. Their program is nationally accredited through Cognia. Champions also handle all of the logistics and payments, which allows our staff to focus on the school day.

As a District Leader, I appreciate the partnership we have with Champions. I've never worked with a company that's been so responsive and flexible and wants to meet the needs of all students and families. I think there's still a lot of opportunity for us to grow the program and connect with more families. It's been amazing to see how many students and families are using the program and benefiting from it across the district.