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Early Head Start
ESS offers Early Head Start services in both home and
classroom-based environments to 60 families. A comprehensive child development
program, Early Head Start has a triple mission of promoting healthy
prenatal outcomes, enhancing the development of infants and toddlers,
and promoting healthy family functioning.
Serving very-low-income expectant families and children
from birth to 3 years of age, ESS provides a variety of learning experiences
to foster intellectual, emotional, and healthy physical growth. Families
meet twice each week with educators whose curriculums are tailored specifically
to the needs and goals of the child. In the home-based program, parents
and children attend weekly socialization groups with other same-age
children and their families; in the center-based program, children attend
classes at ESS' site for six hours each day. Expectant families receive
frequent visits and education around issues of importance to the physical
and emotional well being of both the mother and infant. Parents are
offered various educational workshops, including prenatal and postnatal
care, nutrition, and comprehensive family support services.
The After-School Program
ESS’ After-School Program seeks to provide young
adolescents with a better chance to succeed both in and out of school.
Launched in 1999 at Middle School 302 in the Bronx, ESS' After School
Program now operates in seven public elementary and middle schools in
the Bronx and Harlem. Together with ESS' three programs for high school
students (see below), the After-School Program serves up to 1,500 public
school students each academic year with the goal of improving their
academic achievement and providing rich opportunities for their social
development. Plans are underway to expand the program to other public
schools in the Bronx and Brooklyn.
Operating from 2:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. Monday through
Friday, the After-School Program emphasizes academic support and homework
help in the first hour (in both English and Spanish), followed by a
hot meal. (Nearly 100% of the children are low income and all qualify
for the Federal free lunch program.) For the remaining two 45-minute
blocks, Program Site Coordinators assign students to educational/youth
development activities based on their need for extra academic attention
(tutoring in math and literacy), behavior modification, and interests
across subjects as diverse as art, music, media, dance, sports, technology
and chess.
In 2003, ESS' After-School Program was one of 20 programs
nationwide selected by Policy Studies Associates, Inc., in Washington,
DC to be part of a two-year study to determine which components of after-school
programs in poor, urban areas are most effective and worthy of replication
in other cities around the country.
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Young Adult Borough Centers
ESS operates two Young Adult Borough Centers (YABC),
alternative high school programs at Truman High School in the Bronx,
and at Automotive High School in Brooklyn, designed for students 17
years and older who are not on track to graduate on time. These programs
grant students academic credit for their work in internships during
the day; they then attend classes four nights a week until they have
accumulated sufficient credits to graduate with a diploma. In addition
to academic support, mentoring, and computer training, these young people
also attend workshops and seminars in personal and professional development,
anger management, job readiness, business writing, and leadership -
all to help them succeed in school and prepare for productive careers
in the workforce.
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Youth Workforce Development
Program
A Youth Workforce Development Program has been established
by ESS at Stevenson High School in the Bronx to provide in-school academic
support and career services for juniors and seniors ages 15-18. Operating
under the provisions of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the program
assesses the employment and work readiness skills of participating students,
as well as their academic skills level. While tutoring is provided to
improve areas in which the students' academic abilities are not up to
par, students will also explore the nature of the job market they will
be entering through hands-on activities, guest speakers, internships,
job shadowing, and other exercises. In the process they will discover
and develop the characteristics and personal habits that they will need
to be successful in finding and keeping a job.
Episcopal Social Services is an Equal Opportunity
Employer/Program. Auxillary aids and services are available upon request
to individual with disabilities. TTY/TTD: 1-800-662-1220, Voice Relay:
1-800-421-1220. (DYCD funded programs)
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