By Matthew E. Milliken

mmilliken@heraldsun.com; 419-6684

DURHAM -- The state of North Carolina will provide the Durham school system with $930,000 over the next four years to help struggling students at three schools.

"This grant is so very important because it is going to give many of our students an opportunity to get additional tutoring opportunities and enrichment in the afternoon," said Althia Scriven, the Durham school district's director of community education.

About 200 students at Eastway Elementary and Chewning and Githens Middle schools are expected to benefit from the 21st Century Community Learning Center grant. It was awarded by the state school board and state Department of Public Instruction.

Grant-funded after-school activities will commence shortly at Eastway and Githens. Chewning students will participate in the program only when school is out of session. Because the year-round school's first break, or intersession period, begins today, the program will be implemented at Chewning after the next break begins in December.

The grant application was targeted at schools and individuals who likely have difficulty getting help, according to Scriven. "These were students that tested at [levels] 1s and 2s, and they may not have had any additional programs out there that would meet the needs that these grants would meet," she said, referring to failing marks on end-of-grade tests.

Help with the program will be provided by volunteers from the Ivy Community Center, which is run by the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Scriven said the district has worked with the sorority before and found it to be a reliable partner.

The new grant-funded program is unique in that no initiative like it was targeting struggling students. But the grant will help replace after-school programming at Eastway that had been sponsored by the city Parks and Recreation budget until recent cutbacks.

The program involves more than just help to students. Part of its aim is to get parents involved with their children's education and with community services, too. The district plans to stage activities at which parents will be able to visit schools and learn about educational and social resources.

Part of the grant will pay to transport students to their homes once the after-school activities end.

The Durham Housing Authority has also won a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant and will coordinate activities with the local school system. The housing authority's grant, which expands upon existing services at six locations, will sponsor summer and after-school enrichment and academic tutoring for hundreds of students living in nine designated housing developments.

"We're just excited about another opportunity to partner with our community, who have been tremendous supporters of our efforts to reach out to students who are struggling academically," said Debbie Pitman, Durham's assistant superintendent of student support services. "And this is an affirmation of community collaboration at its most important place for children."