Project MOST is a comprehensive enrichment program for academic and creative growth helping families confidently turn non-school hours into learning hours year-round in East Hampton, New York.
Established in 2000, it provides affordable and innovative after school, evening, and weekend workshops for all ages in the areas of Arts & Culture, S.T.E.M., Language/Foreign Language Arts, and Health & Wellness. It offers a nine-week summer learning program with an onsite organic garden, where students learn to prepare healthy recipes and develop a sense of stewardship of the environment. The year-round program also offers tutoring and academic assistance for children.
HOW HAS PROJECT MOST ADDRESSED THE COMMUNITY’S NEEDS DURING COVID-19?
In response to Covid-19, the Remote Learning Support Lab for the 2020-21 school year was established. This full-day program is for students from local schools that have not been able to re-open for a five-day school week. It includes supervision of remote assignments in the morning, and hands-on enrichment activities in the areas of STEM, literacy, arts, and health/wellness in the afternoon. This is in addition to the daily after school program. This initiative not only helps students with individualized attention and increased learning time, but, importantly, allows parents to return to the workforce by offering a program that matches working hours.
At the onset of the pandemic, the Distance Learning Lab launched with online classes and activities led by their own instructors, so that students could continue to have a resource of creativity and hope. Efforts to serve the community need-blind meaning that all students attend programs on a sliding scale – no child is left out due to finances.
