Title IV-B, Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC)

The Nita M. Lowey 21^st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) grant is the only federal funding source dedicated exclusively to the creation of before school, afterschool, and summer learning programs. The 21st CCLC grant is a competitive grant authorized under Title IV, Part B of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. 21st CCLC grants require a significant partnership between school districts and community-based programs. Each program is shaped by the local community and the students and families it serves. While each program is built upon the unique attributes, strengths, needs and dreams of the community, 21st CCLC programs have common goals, structures and requirements to ensure high-quality programming.

Purpose of the Program

21st CCLC programs focus on helping children in schools who serve a large portion of students navigating poverty succeed academically through the application of evidence-based practices during non-school hours by:

Providing opportunities for academic enrichment, including providing tutorial services, to help students meet the challenging state academic standards in core academic subjects such as reading, writing, and mathematics;
Offering students a broad array of additional services, programs, and activities, such as youth development activities, service learning, nutrition and health education, cultural programs, counseling programs, arts, music, physical fitness and wellness programs, technology education programs, financial literacy programs, environmental literacy programs, science, career and technical programs, and internship or apprenticeship programs that are designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program of participating students; and
Offering families of students served by community learning centers opportunities for active and meaningful engagement in their children's education, including opportunities for literacy and related educational development.

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Grants and Partnerships

Monitoring and Guidance

Continuous Improvement

Quality Programs and Resources

25th Anniversary of 21st CCLC Federal Funding

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) federal program celebrated its 25th Anniversary of funding in 2023. Beginning as a federal discretionary grant in 1998, the 21st CCLC funding transitioned to a federal formula grant in 2002, serving afterschool programming in 54 states and territories. Over the course of 25 years, programs have provided students in high-need, high-poverty communities the opportunity to participate in afterschool programming in which academic enrichment and youth development activities are designed to enhance participants' well-being and academic success.

The 21st CCLC Program was renamed the Nita M. Lowey 21st CCLC Program in the fiscal year 2020 appropriations bill (PL 116-94, Section 310; December 20, 2019) in honor of the former Congresswoman's advocacy and commitment to afterschool programming. Nationwide, over 10,652 centers serve approximately 965,000 students and over 200,000 adults and families in 2023.

It is a policy of the State Board of Education and a priority of the Oregon Department of Education that there will be no discrimination or harassment on the grounds of race, color, sex, marital status, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, or disability in any 21st CCLC educational program, activities or employment. For more information, visit Oregon Department of Education's Anti-Discrimination Policy page.

If you have questions, please email ODE.OR21stCCLC@ode.oregon.gov or Raquel Gwynn, CCLC Coordinator.