The Middle School Enhancement Program is student-driven and evaluated based on interest level and participation. Students are surveyed often and are asked to fill out interest inventories yearly to help coordinators plan appealing programs. Students at Stacey School, for example, requested a cooking class that simmered each week in the school s Home Economics lab. This flexibility has been a major component in the program from inception. Membership in after school clubs and sports teams has increased from 950 students city-wide in 1991 to 1,400 this year.
Parents also provide valuable feedback.
Westminster students, for the most part, come from families with working parents, some devoting time to two to three jobs. Many parents have voiced their appreciation that their children now have a positive place to stay after school during the hours parents simply cannot supervise. When possible, parents have also become personally involved in activities. One mother provides carpools to sports tournaments when buses are not available, and another recently asked in limited English if she could join Warner School s line-dancing club. Dozens of parents have become devoted rooters at Westminster s intramural sports tournaments.