21st Century Community Learning Centers

Overview

The purpose of the Nita M. Lowey Alaska 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program is to provide competitive grants to organizations that are working in partnership within their community and schools to provide expanded learning and enrichment opportunities for children and their families outside of regular school hours. The program is designed to target funds to communities that have low achieving students and high rates of poverty but lack the resources to establish after school centers. Funding for Alaska’s 21st CCLC program is provided by federal funds from ESEA, Title IV, Part B.

Foundational Documents

21st CCLC Federal Statute - ESEA, Title IV, Part B (pdf)

21^st CCLC Federal Performance Measures (GPRA)

Alaska 21st CCLC Key Quality Indicators (pdf)

Competitive Grant Opportunities

NEW DEED has released its FY26 Alaska 21st CCLC Request for Applications (RFA) for competitive grants that would begin providing out-of-school time programming in the fall of the 25-26 school year. Awards are made for five years, contingent upon federal congressional funding and adequate progress meeting grant objectives. We hope to award $3,700,000 in federal funding. Applications are due April 16, 2025 at 1:00 PM AKDST.

RFA Technical Assistance Webinars

Technical Assistance Webinar #1 for New Applicants
Recorded Tuesday, March 11, 2025, from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
Topics: Overview of 21st CCLC, reporting and other grantee requirements, tips for new applicants, applicant resources.
Webinar slides

Technical Assistance Webinar #2 for All Applicants (recording)
Recorded Thursday, March 13, 2025, from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
Topics: Review of 21st CCLC major elements, tips for applicants, application instructions.
Webinar slides

Support Documents for Applicants

Renewability of Grants

Once an applicant wins a 21st CCLC grant award, they will receive an annual continuation award for up to a maximum of five years of funding, contingent upon good standing and continued federal funding, similar to most competitive grants.

In addition, Section 4204(j) of ESEA gives State Education Agencies (SEA) the unusual option of giving successful grantees a one-time non-competitive renewal of their award for an additional three to five years.

SEAs are not required to allow a “renewability” option, and notably, the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development’s policy is to only employ the renewability option sparingly, preferring to have previously successful grantees compete for additional funding awards along with all other applicants. However, DEED does occasionally use the renewability option to solve problems such as a decrease in funding, logistical issues, or a lack of applicant interest when a surplus of “easier” funds has been available. If DEED elects to use renewability, it does so in place of, not concurrent with, a competitive request for applications.

When determining eligibility for renewal, DEED primarily considers progress on meeting grantee-set performance indicators, serving the proposed the number regular attendees, providing the proposed number of programming hours, and providing proposed academic and enrichment instructional activities.

External Organization Partner Pool

In order to increase the capacity of Alaska’s communities to offer high-quality 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) applications and programs, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development (DEED) to make available a list of potential Alaska non-profit “external organizations” that 21st CCLC applicants may be interested in partnering with when building a 21st CCLC out-of-school-time program. Community partnerships within 21st CCLC programs are strongly encouraged as they have the potential to increase program quality, variety, and sustainability. The term "partnerships" in this instance is used loosely and may involve for-pay contracted services, in-kind services, etc.

When DEED releases a competitive Request for Applications, it also solicits Alaska non-profits to submit an Alaska Nonprofit Organization Profile Form to be considered for inclusion in the Alaska 21st CCLC External Organization Partner Pool. This request to organizations is publicized through the DEED Info Exchange, through the Alaska Afterschool Network newsletter, and other communication channels, as appropriate. Additionally, Alaska non-profits are also welcome to submit or update an Organization Profile Form any time they wish.

A complete Organization Profile Form requires information including an organization’s experience providing out-of-school-time services; their unique Alaska Entity Number; current and good standing with the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development; and at least 3 references. Upon review and acceptance, the organization and their profile form is included in the Alaska 21st CCLC External Organization Partner Pool, which is posted on the DEED website, and ongoing good standing is checked and updated bi-annually.

Alaska Nonprofit Organization Profile Form (#05-18-032)

Alaska 21st CCLC External Organization Partner Pool

Statutes, Regulations, and Guidance

Current State Grantees

Information on Current Grantees

Alaska 21st CCLC Grantees (docx)

Alaska 21st CCLC Fact Sheet FY19 (pdf)

Alaska 21st CCLC Statewide Evaluation Report FY19 (pdf)

Each 21^st CCLC grantee is required to contract with an external evaluator to conduct a Local Evaluation of the program and issue a report annually. These annual local evaluation reports can be reviewed by any interested stakeholder by finding it on the program’s webpage or else contacting the program to request a copy.