Aspire Afterschool Learning Program: Empowering Students and Families in Arlington

Aspire is Arlington's only free, daily, and accessible afterschool and summer program dedicated to narrowing the educational opportunity gap for 3rd-8th grade students from historically underserved families. Aspire was founded in 1994 as Greenbrier Learning Center, a grassroots effort to provide afterschool learning programs for elementary school students in South Arlington. At that time, the community was welcoming a lot of new immigrants and refugees, and was looking for opportunities to support them and other historically underserved members of the community. Throughout Aspire’s history, we have harnessed deep community connections, taken a student/family-centered approach, and expanded and evolved our holistic programming to meet community needs, deepen our programming, and support more students.

Addressing the Opportunity Gap

Aspire directly addresses the opportunity gap that exists for many students in South Arlington. The program serves a diverse population, with 99% of students being students of color, 94% coming from families with low incomes, and 84% from homes where another language is spoken. Aspire expands learning opportunities to help historically underserved 3rd through 8th grade students in South Arlington fulfill their potential through afterschool and summer learning programs. Understanding the critical link between reading proficiency and academic success, Aspire places a strong emphasis on literacy. Children who don’t read well are four times less likely to graduate. Initially, less than 20% of Aspire's students read at grade level; yet by year's end, an impressive 90% see significant improvement.

Comprehensive Programs and Activities

Aspire closes the opportunity gap by increasing access to afterschool and summer programs that include quality instruction tied to fundamental skills/coursework and opportunities for engaging enrichment activities at no-cost to historically underserved students and their families. Aspire provides daily holistic, high-quality afterschool academic support for students in 3rd through 8th grade in South Arlington. We also offer a six-week summer learning camp. Aspire’s programs are designed to help students strengthen their literacy and academic skills for a successful transition to middle and high school. We work closely with our schools and families, helping you support your child’s learning and growth. Many of our students come to our programs as English language learners or have an IEP.

Aspire’s programs have a special focus on literacy through at least 30 minutes of dedicated reading activities each day. Our award-winning Learning ROCKS program uses evidence-based methods and individualized support. Reading on grade level at the end of 3rd grade has been shown to support high school graduation and future success.

Learning ROCKS Afterschool Program

First, we offer an afterschool program, “Learning ROCKS,” at three locations in South Arlington from 3-6pm every weekday. This is the ONLY daily academic afterschool program in Arlington that is offered at no cost to 3rd-8th grade students. Learning ROCKS students participate in many learning activities related to Aspire’s five themes of Literacy, STEAM, Health and Nutrition, Culture and Current Events, and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). Learning ROCKS provides 15 hours/week of afterschool academic and social-emotional support to 130+ low-income 3rd-8th grade students (Mon-Fri) at three sites.

Read also: Aspire Academy Programs

A key function of Learning ROCKS is to improve students’ academic and functional English literacy skills through 30 minutes of dedicated reading activities each day. Learning ROCKS utilizes evidence-based methods and project-based experiential learning opportunities to reinforce key academic content. Students receive additional targeted and individualized tutoring and support with homework, foundational skills, phonics, and math. Our AmeriCorps members also work in schools during the school day, which offers a unique opportunity to build relationships, connect our programming to school curriculum, and identify students who could benefit from our support.

Every day, students participate in at least 30 minutes of dedicated reading activities, a social-emotional lesson, free choice, and a lesson on Literacy, STEAM, Culture & Current Events, Social-Emotional Learning, or Health and Nutrition. Your child will also receive homework support and a hot meal. Our award-winning Learning ROCKS program uses evidence-based methods and individualized support. Reading on grade level at the end of 3rd grade has been shown to support high school graduation and future success.

Aspire works closely with Arlington Public Schools (APS) to provide focused academic support. Our long-standing partnership with the schools means that our staff coordinates with school day teachers and school leaders to ensure that we are aligning our program to their curriculum.

Aspire’s holistic program is designed to support the whole child. We focus heavily on reading and academic support, but we also make sure your child has the social-emotional tools they need to succeed. This means that students have daily “mat meetings,” where they play a short game, answer a question of the day, and solve a riddle to promote listening and empathy. Students participate in a social-emotional lesson and activity designed for student engagement. Students participate in a daily activity of the day.

Summer Learning Camp

Second, we offer a six-week, full-day intensive summer camp to provide a safe and fun environment and help prevent summer learning loss. The content reinforces concepts from the school curriculum and emphasizes experiential learning opportunities that focus on skills like problem-solving, inquiry, reasoning, and collaboration. The structure is similar to the afterschool program, which provides consistency. Programming includes hands-on learning projects, a daily hot meal, educational field trips, and opportunities for unstructured play. Through these interventions, we are able to reduce the impacts of summer learning loss which year-over-year can make it more difficult for students to catch up to their more affluent peers.

Read also: Learn about Aspire Programs

Family Support and Engagement

Third, we offer family support. Our full-time bilingual parent engagement coordinator is a reliable point of contact for families in our program. She fields calls from families who need additional support and facilitates connections to resources at Aspire and with our community partners. She organizes workshops focused on topics that help parents support their children’s learning, such as advocating for their child within the school system, understanding students’ homework, keeping kids safe online, accessing resources in the community, and more. She also hosts interactive sessions like healthy cooking classes and helps families gather books to build home libraries.

Locations

Aspire's programs are offered at multiple locations, making it more accessible to families in South Arlington:

Arlington Mill Community Center 909 S.
Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School 3500 23rd Street S.
Randolph Elementary School 1306 S.

Mission and Vision

Aspire’s mission is to expand learning opportunities that help historically underserved students fulfill their potential through afterschool and summer learning programs that support and connect families, schools, and communities. Aspire envisions an Arlington where all children have the support they need from family, school, and community so they can succeed as learners and thrive as healthy and happy individuals. We are the only daily academic afterschool program in Arlington that is offered at no cost to 3rd-8th grade students and their families.

Community Partnerships

Through longstanding partnerships with schools, affordable housing providers, and nonprofit organizations, we identify participants, recruit volunteers, connect families to resources, and advance shared missions.

Impact and Recognition

Aspire has a long history of impact in the Arlington community. In 1994, we were founded as Greenbrier Learning Center, a grassroots effort to provide afterschool learning programs for elementary school students. Grew rapidly to serve the most students in program history, while maintaining our high-quality personalized programming. Launched a school-based afterschool site at both Drew and Randolph Elementary Schools in 2023-2024, and grew to two sites at each school in 2024-2025, adding four new Program Coordinators to maintain program quality. Greenbrier Learning Center (now knowing as Aspire! GLC was also named a finalist for the National Arts & Humanities Youth Program Award, recognizing GLC's Learning ROCKS!

Getting Involved

Aspire welcomes volunteers who can work directly with our students and help them grow. We have 1:1 weekly volunteer opportunities for volunteers who want to make a high impact and support a student with math, reading, or homework throughout the year.

We also host reading nights for groups to read aloud with our students and see first-hand the impact of your support. Aspire typically holds at least one reading, STEM, or art volunteer night every month. These opportunities are ideal for people who may not be able to commit to weekly volunteering but still want to make an impact. Other opportunities are developed around the schedule of volunteers.

Financial Information

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