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How a private supplemental education center set up shop in Chicago's public parks

BY MELISSA CONNELLY AND JENNIFER ZUITOFF

You've seen the television commercials from the big budget learning centers, appealing to the emotions of parents frustrated with their children's struggling grades and school performance and their soured attitude toward learning. Parents, well aware that a good education is crucial to a child's success later in life, may try many different tactics to improve grades. As of late, parents have turned in full force to private learning centers, prompting unprecedented growth in the supplemental education market. The Education Industry Group recently reported that 4,500 supplemental education centers in the United States and Canada serve 10 to 15 percent of students in grades kindergarten through twelve (K-12), creating a $900 million market growing at a rate of 15 percent.

A handful of these education centers in Chicago have set up shop in an unlikely location at which kids wont turn up their noses: the parks. Are parks an ideal setting for learning? Upon inspection, the combination of recreation and education in the right park fieldhouse actually makes smart sense, for parents, tutoring centers and park districts.

How It Started

Children enrolled in the Chicago Park District's PARK Kids after-school program, established in 1995, participated in a homework hour as part of their daily rotation. A few years into the program, when students began asking recreation instructors for detailed help with difficult homework assignments, administrators knew they had a need for educational experts in the parks.

With impeccable timing, a private entity known as A Plus Education Centers, Inc., reached out to the park district for a potential partnership. A Plus provides tutoring in reading, math, writing, study skills and Prairie State/ACT preparation to children in grades K-12 in Chicago. A Plus knew that by forming a relationship with the Chicago Park District, it would be able to get into numerous park facilities, reaching directly the children who may need affordable tutoring. Additionally, they would be able to address those families in a comfortable park environment that they already know, use and enjoy, providing fewer barriers to overcome.

From the park districts viewpoint, A Plus was willing to supply highly skilled instructional expertise that it could not, nor was in the business of, providing. Furthermore, A Plus was able to fulfill the local community residents' needs affordably.

"That's how the parks have evolved, growing with the individual communities to meet their changing needs," says Rodger Konow, Chicago Park District North Region Manager.

"We can often meet those needs by collaborating with organizations and developing unique partnerships with them."

How It Works

The park district established a partnership with A Plus in 1998. This unique partnership works well for a number of reasons. Because A Plus operates out of various recreation centers, the program serves as a promotional vehicle for the park district, increasing traffic at the facilities and bringing in additional park users and program participants. When fifth grader, Andrea Suykur, attends her reading and math tutoring sessions, her mother, Zulfiana, and younger brother, Adrean, stroll through Warren Park while they wait. Kaffa Morales signs her eighth grade son, Jorge, up for additional sports programs because it is convenient that he is already at the park facility for his tutoring sessions.

"It makes the scheduling easier," says Morales. "Jorge participates in basketball, golf, baseball and soccer, as well as working as a counselor for the after-school and summer day camp programs."

To cater to its students' recreation activities, A Plus schedules its hours around the park district's after-school and day camp programs. Children are able to participate in recreation and tutoring back-to-back.

"I consider A Plus a Chicago Park District program, part of the rotation in after-school and day camp," says Diana Schilz, recreation

"The supplemental education market is growing rapidly. It makes sense to take our services to the children, to the places where they already like to play and gather with friends."

— Anthony Baldassano, president, A Plus Education Centers, Inc.

January/February 2003 11

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supervisor at Warren Park.

"Children play during recreation time, exercise their minds at A Plus, then go home. It is a well-rounded experience."

It also means less driving time for parents. The Chicago Park District contracts space to A Plus rent-free, in turn allowing A Plus to charge park district residents less than half the cost of other nationally known learning centers and still provide measurable results. On average, A Plus students improve skills by more than one full grade level in four to six months of instruction and, as a result, they gain more self-confidence and become more comfortable speaking or reading out loud in class. The lower fee makes the program a feasible alternative for families who may not otherwise be able to afford such effective tutoring.

"It's a win-win situation," says Anthony Baldassano, president of A Plus. "We provide the park district with a successful program, one they don't have to develop or staff. And the additional adults (A Plus employees) working in the facilities adds another level of security for park patrons."

Konow says it's the complementary nature of the relationship that makes it work so well.

"Going to the park is a relief for kids because they eventually get to play," he says. "The child is never disappointed, and with the results from A Plus, neither are the parents."

Logistics for Working Together

The park district and A Plus reviewed several factors when deciding which parks were best suited for a learning center. The first priority was space. The park district identified a handful of parks on the city's North Side with available meeting rooms that were the minimum required size of 20 feet by 20 feet. In exchange for the use of these meeting rooms, A Plus built out the space for its needs, adding carpeting, furniture and fixtures, air conditioning, computers and other teaching materials. The rooms are used exclusively for A Plus during its teaching hours, but are available for other Chicago Park District community meetings and activities at other times.

The second consideration was the number of surrounding schools. The current A Plus sites have several schools within a three-mile radius from which to pull many students in need of tutoring. During the school year, children may even be bussed to their A Plus site for instruction.

The park district promotes A Plus in its program brochures and regional newsletters and distributes A Plus flyers on its "Green Machine," a mobile marketing unit that travels to various parks promoting programs and events. A Plus gives credit to the Chicago Park District in many success stories it writes about its students, as well as on its Web site with a link to the district's site.

"We are so grateful to the park district and try to say thank you whenever we can," says Baldassano. "If we can help promote its wonderful parks and programs through our publicity and marketing efforts, we are glad to help."

The park district and A Plus are currently working out the details of a scholarship program, which would award funds to eligible children living in the park district's boundaries.

Why the partnership works:

• Because A Plus operates out of various recreation centers, the program serves as a promotional vehicle for the park district, increasing traffic at the facilities and bringing in additional park users and program participants.

• Children are able to participate in recreation and tutoring back-to-back, a relief for children because they get to play and convenient for parents because of easy scheduling and less driving time.

• Without the overhead of utilities and real estate, A Plus is able to keep costs low, therefore serving families that may otherwise not be able to afford tutoring and still providing a program with measurable results.

• There is no competition for children. The park district and A Plus each serve the children with important, but different programming, and each is first and foremost concerned about the same thing —the well-being of the children.

Success Stories

A Plus has made an enormously positive impact on the hundreds of children it has tutored in the parks. A Plus helps children improve grades, as well as self-esteem and confidence, often changing the course of a child's life. Suykur decided to explore her interest in writing after her confidence in reading was renewed through tutoring. She now considers a career in writing, which may not ever have happened without A Plus.

In turn, many additional families are exposed to the park district's programs and facilities. Though she is not a resident of Chicago, Gloria Rivera, of Skokie, drives her two children, sixth grader, Lia, and seventh grader, Joey, to A Plus a few times a week.

"I make the trip because the program is affordable and I have seen results," says Rivera. Labeled as learning disabled by her school and barely able to read, Lias reading skills improved by two grade levels within her first six months at A Plus.

"Because the kids are already at the parks for A Plus, I also sign them up for the park district's summer day camp and after-school programs. It works great for my schedule and everybody's happy."

Says Baldassano: "The supplemental education market is growing rapidly. It makes sense to take our services to the children, to the places where they already like to play and gather with friends. This makes the learning atmosphere more warm and comfortable for them."

MELISSA CONNOLLY is the north region marketing communications manager for the Chicago Park District.

JENNIFER ZUITHOFF is president of Ten Tolents Public Relations, a public relations firm in Glendale Heights serving clients in the recreation, education, professional services and business-to-business industries. Zuithoff also is a free-lance writer and can be reached at jennirer@tentatentspr.com.

For more information about A Plus Education Centers, Inc., visit www.edcenters.com of call 866 LETS LEARN, 847-991-0859.

12 Illinois Parks and Recreation