Program Overview:
The Tehama County Department of Education, in rural Northern California, is the lead Educational Agency for the Safe Education and Recreation for Rural Families (SERRF) After School Program. Since 1999, school and community partners have joined together to implement high-quality after school services tailored to the needs of the students, parents, and community members in a chronically depressed economy where many parents of children subsist on the bottom rung of California’s growing population of immigrants and the working poor. SERRF provides 1500 kindergarten through eighth grade students instruction in academics, enrichment, and recreation in coordination with schools to support the California Student Learning Standards. SERRF serves all 25 Tehama County elementary and middle schools, including small isolated rural schools.

In addition to being awarded the prestigious “Golden Bell Award” by the California School Board Association in both 2004 and 2009, the SERRF After School Program has been recognized as a “Promising Exemplary Program” by the California After School Partnership. Program findings over the past years indicate positive and statistically significant results in all required areas.

Site Information:
The CASDP site at Bidwell Elementary School serves a total of 130 students, 60 students in grades K-2, and 70 students in grades 3 thru 6. Working with our students are 1 site facilitator, 1 credentialed staff, 6 line staff, 2 high school student assistants, and 3 high school mentors (volunteers). Participants at this site are Latino (17%), African American (2%), American Indian (4%), Asian (2%), and White (75%). Program activities at this site include: homework assistance, tutoring support, comprehensive academic enrichment and recreational activities. SERRF has clear systems in place to produce and measure academic outcomes for students and to coordinate these services with the classroom teacher. Educational, enrichment, and recreation activities are aligned with the regular classroom experience, address multiple learning styles, and inspire an enthusiasm for learning. Students are provided opportunities for self-expressions, critical thinking, mentoring, risk-taking, creativity, and conflict resolution. Over the last two years, students participating in the after school program have increased their scores on the California Standards Test (CST) in the areas of reading language arts and math.

As an identified CASDP site, we offer many forms of technical assistance to after school programs across the state. Please contact us so that we can best assess the type of support required to meet your program's needs and goals.