Robinson Community Learning Center

Robinson Community Learning Center
Robinson Community Learning Center (RCLC) Mission Statement

The Robinson Community Learning Center welcomes community and Notre Dame partners that strengthen the Northeast Neighborhood of South Bend through relationship building and educational opportunities.
By promoting innovation and excellence, the Center builds individual capacity and enhances existing systems throughout South Bend.

RCLC Goals

Goal 1: HOSPITALITY
Create a setting that serves as a place of gathering and interaction among neighborhood residents, ND students & staff, and community partners.
Goal 2: EDUCATION
Establish educational opportunities to develop technical abilities, build life skills, and provide support/mentoring at all ages.
Goal 3: PARTNERSHIP
Provide space and support for programs through health care, business, school, and community organizations that promote education and enhance the quality of life.
Goal 4: CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Foster active citizenship and a commitment to community building among the Center’s partners & participants.
Goal 5: SUSTAINABILITY Acquire resources necessary to achieve program goals.

RCLC Motto:
“Changing Lives One Relationship At A Time”
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• About Us
  The Robinson Community Learning Center AmeriCorps program strives to provide low-income youth with the educational support and healthy community they need in order to thrive. The RCLC AmeriCorps program offers a multi-faceted approach to addressing these needs, with programs including tutoring, conflict resolution, leadership training, performing arts, advanced skills and entrepreneurship. AmeriCorps members support the goal of improving educational outcomes by coordinating educational programs, providing direct service, recruiting volunteers, expanding outreach, developing curricula, and assisting with program evaluation.
  
  The majority of RCLC participants are minority, low-income youth, with a limited view of the future based on generational poverty. The RCLC provides opportunities for “changing family trees,” through programs that provide consistent relationships, high expectations, and quality instruction. RCLC programs exists on-site, as well as throughout Michiana through a wide range of community partnerships.
  
  The RCLC offers the following programs:
  Youth Development offers daily afterschool tutoring and enrichment to 70 youth, grades 1-12, provided by more than 100 ND student volunteers.
  The "Robinson Shakespeare Company" offers after-school drama programs and drama integration workshops to five partner schools, as well as an RCLC club for youth ages 8-18.
  Youth Entrepreneurship provides a club for RCLC youth, ages 12-18, that focuses on entrepreneurial concepts and 21st Century Skills. The class is also offered at four high schools.
  "Take Ten" teaches conflict resolution/violence prevention to youth, grades K-12. The program is implemented by more than 100 volunteers in 17 schools/agencies, impacting 2000 local youth.
  RCLC Literacy Corps provides free tutoring for children, grades K-6, at the RCLC , the NDCAC, and two community sites. This program also coordinates the “English as a New Language (ENL) Preschool,” for children ages 3-5 whose parents are enrolled in the RCLC adult ENL classes.
  Adult Programs include senior activities, computer classes, and the “Talk With Your Baby” (TWYB) parenting class, which is a series of parenting classes aimed at educating parents and caregivers about the important of verbal interaction for healthy social-emotional and cognitive development in children, birth to age three. It is the RCLC belief that if youth are to look to adults as role models, then adults also require opportunities for education and a positive peer community.
  
  AmeriCorps members serve in each of the above program areas. In addition, RCLC places AmeriCorps members in the following partner agencies: El Campito Child Development Center, The Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Joseph County, and the Westville Education Initiative.
  
• Our Impact
  The RCLC impacts the surrounding community by providing services to more than 2000 program participants, with the assistance of approximately 500 volunteers.
  
  Short Term Outcomes include:
  Youth will demonstrate increased reading and language arts performance.
  Youth will demonstrate gains in skills such as problem solving, teamwork, critical thinking, and public speaking, as well as in content knowledge.
  Youth and teachers will engage in curricular activities not otherwise offered in their educational settings.
  
  Medium Term Outcomes include:
  
  Youth will make positive academic progress as indicated by report cards and grade promotion.
  Youth will remain engaged as learners, and apply skills learned when participating in school and community activities.
  Teachers will apply new strategies and incorporate new content into daily curriculum.
  Parents and caregivers will apply new strategies and incorporate new content into daily interactions with children and youth.
  
  Long-Term Outcomes include:
  
  Youth will graduate from high school, and ultimately pursue employment or higher education.
  Youth will develop an expanded vision of their personal futures, and demonstrate personal and social skills that will enable them to become successful, active citizens.
  Schools and agencies will expand curricular offerings to include a wider range of content, including instruction in the arts, entrepreneurship, and conflict resolution/violence prevention.