Three high school after-school initiatives: lessons learned

Alarmed by the large numbers of high school-age youth who are disengaged at school and leaving high school without a diploma or the important skills for the workplace, policymakers and youth advocates are beginning to see high school after-school as the new frontier in after-school programming. Although older youth represent a sizable percentage of American students, they garner only a small fraction of the federal, state, and local investments for after-school programs. This chapter reviews the insights and lessons learned from three after-school initiatives that have shown success in attracting high school students to their programs and engaging them in meaningful activities to support their success in school and transition to early adulthood: the After School Safety and Education for Teens, After School Matters, and the After-School Corporation. Emerging from these pioneering efforts are some promising practices and program models that can guide the development of future after-school programs, but not without the help of policymakers and funders, both public and private.