The new school year is just around the corner! As kids exchange their sunglasses and sunscreen for backpacks and books, we reflect on this past year’s successes and focus on opportunities for future growth.
Our team is particularly proud of our organization’s adaptability and commitment to our mission of supporting the children and families of our community. While providing this essential care this summer, students were also able to start regaining a sense of normalcy, togetherness, and excitement. Our Summer Enrichment program themes challenged students to take on the part of world travelers, Olympic athletes, mad scientists, innovative artists, and more en route to grade level academic proficiency!
This past year, we also took time to connect with our families and gain greater understanding of our impact. Our surveys yielded many encouraging and uplifting comments from our parents, which reminded us of why we do what we do. One parent wrote “AYS has been a lifesaver for my family…they are like my kids’ second family.” It’s comments like these that remind us of our purpose and drive our passion for helping families in any way we can. During the next school year, we will have the opportunity to support even more families. We are excited to announce that we will be adding four new schools for the 2021-2022 school year – Christel House Academy South and West, Emma Donnan Elementary & Middle School, and The PATH School. Adding these sites will promote the continued growth of AYS and will allow us to support more families in need of high-quality youth development programs for their kids.
As AYS looks toward the future, we know that remembering where we’ve been (and the heroes who made it all possible) ensures we never lose our way. We are honored to share a tribute to Nancy Mallon, whose spirit and leadership was vital in creating the foundation of AYS. Please take some time to read about Nancy’s legacy as remembered by our founder, Ellen Clippinger.
AYS’ role is as significant as ever this school year with parents adjusting to new work environments and everyone attempting to transition out of the pandemic. To help make AYS accessible to more families, please donate to our Ellen Clippinger Fund by clicking the button below. These donations directly impact student attendance and offer stability for local families.
As always, we appreciate you and are happy to have you in our family!
