After School

WHEDco After School Enrichment Program

WHEDco PROGRAMA DE ENRIQUESIMIENTO DE DESPUÉS DE LA ESCUELA

at PS/IS 218

Are you interested in signing you child up for the WHEDco After School Enrichment Program at PS/IS 218?  We offer homework help, art, dance, music, sports, STEM Enrichment, Literacy Enrichment, Sewing, Chess, Gardening and much more!  Monday-Friday from 2:15pm-5:00pm and all day programming on some days school is closed. 

If you are interested in enrolling your child please fill out a Lottery Form Entry at the below link or by scanning the QR Code with a smart phone or tablet: 

https://tinyurl.com/218lottery2023

Space is limited based on openings from returning families.  Completion of Lottery Form does not guarantee acceptance into the program. Please fill out ONE entry PER student you wish to enroll.  You will have to complete a new entry for each student you are entering in the lottery.  Duplicate entries will be deleted. 

 

The Lottery will be open from September 7, 2023 until 5:30pm on Friday, September 22, 2023.  Families selected from the random lottery drawing will be contacted September 25, 2023 and September 26, 2023.  All other families will be placed on our wait list. 

 

Should you have any questions email Jamie (jyellen@whedco.org), Jose (jcgarcia@whedco.org) or Santana (yosorrio@whedco.org)

The Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco) is a community development organization founded on the radically simple idea that all people deserve healthy, vibrant communities. WHEDco’s early childhood and youth development programs prepare Bronx children for the future by providing the resources critical for success. Our comprehensive approach to education and discovery stimulates each student’s mind, body and artistic spirit.

The WHEDco After School Enrichment Program is proud to partner with PS/IS 218 and serve the community as we have since the school's opening. What sets us apart from other programs is that we are truly a part of the fabric of the 218 community. Many of our staff are past participants or have had children in the program, and many of our participants have family members enrolled as well. We aim to serve the whole child and the whole family, offering a variety of activities meant to cultivate curiosity and insight creativity in youth and connecting families to resources to help build upon their lives.

We are a publicly funded program, primary funded by the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) as a COMPASS and SONYC Program. We are free of charge for all participants.

The After School Program runs on school days from 2:20pm-5:00pm. We are closed for half days.

We provide 13 days a year of all day programming when school is not in session. On these select days we are open from 8:00am to 5:00pm. All students must arrive by 9:00am or they will not be allowed to stay.

Details can be found on our monthly calendar.

Summer Camp runs from 8:00am-5:00pm Monday-Friday when camp is in session. All Campers must arrive by 9:00am or they will not be permitted to attend camp that day.


Our program offers age appropriate content that is designed to help help stimulate students interests and to build upon the skills and techniques they are learning during the day, as well as expose them to some new content areas.

Kindergarten through second grade participate in the following activities at least once a week: Art, sports, dance, drama, music, yoga, ELA, STEM and life skills. They also receive designated homework help time daily.

Third through fifth grade groups receive ELA enrichment twice a week, STEM once a week and homework help twice a week. They also receive 10 weeks of basketball on a staggered scheduled. Students are able to pick two enrichment activities that each meet twice a week. These are choice based activities that are subject to spatial constraints. The following activities are currently offered:

Art, DIY, Chess, Cooking, Gardening, Dance, Coding, Typing, Engineering Challenges, Sewing, Soccer, and Music.

Middle school students participate in Students Toward Educational Promise, Project STEP, is an academic enhancement component of WHEDco's After School Program at PS/MS 218 for all students in 6th through 8th grade. The Program aims to facilitate the development of students’ critical thinking skills around issues of social justice and community service. Through readings and workshop groups, students discuss a variety of social issues that affect their communities.

Project STEP also provides test prep, tutoring, guidance counseling and school application assistance for children in 6-8TH grade preparing for the transition to high school. The program aims to guide and motivate students to strive for admission into quality schools with higher expectations and graduation rates than those of the average neighborhood schools.

Just Ask Me (JAM) is a comprehensive sexuality education workshop for WHEDco’s middle school students. The class covers topics ranging from puberty to LGBTQ issues to contraception, as well as alcohol and drug awareness. These workshops run for two weeks on a staggered schedule and are designed to meet national standards and align with age appropriate language and content.

Additionally Students are able to pick two enrichment activities that each meet twice a week. These are choice based activities that are subject to spatial constraints. The following activities are currently offered:

Art, Chess, Cooking, Gardening, Dance, Coding, Typing, Engineering Challenges, Sewing, Soccer, Lacrosse, Basketball and Music.

Our Basketball and Lacrosse Programs are team based and require a try out to join the team. There are also strict behavioral and academic expectations that must be met and maintained in order to stay on the teams and participate in trips, games and practices


Monthly PDF Calendars

The WHEDco After School Enrichment Program is a lottery based admission program. All returning students are automatically re-enrolled (pending updated application) each school year. Incoming siblings of current participants will receive priority entry. Families must inform the WHEDco office if they have a sibling to add to the priority list- they are not automatically added.

All remaining spaces will be filled using a random lottery based on availability in each grade level.

There will be a lottery box in the lobby of the school with slips that can be filled out and placed in the box for anyone wishing to join starting the first day of school. The box will remain open for a few weeks (signs will specify close date) and then names will be randomly drawn and families will be contacted. Any names not drawn will automatically be placed on our waitlist. If spaces become available we will randomly draw from the waitlist.

For information on Summer Camp Enrollment please contact the WHEDco office. More information will become available on this site as the enrollment period approaches.

WHEDCo Administration

Name/Email	Title	Phone
Ms. Jamie Yellen	Program Director	718-588-5712
Ms. KellyAnn Harvey	Asst. Director	718-588-5712
Yovanny Santana	Parent Liaison	718-588-5712
Kevin Contreras	Program Aide	718-588-5712
Jose Garcia	Program Aide	718-839-1185
Nicole Jennings	Program Coordinator Project STEP & JAM	917-848-6806
Katie Aylwin	Senior Director	718-839-1184

BEFORE OR AFTER SCHOOL INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS

• The programs are based on needs and school budget.
• The students will be invited by their teachers to attend.
• The programs are designed to provide support in different subject areas or provide access to technology to support student work.
• The students must attend all sessions in order for the programs to be effective.
• The students that do not attend consistently may be dropped from the program.