From Idea to Action:
National Institute for Building Expanded Learning Systems
November 7-8, 2019
Denver, Colorado
Six-Word Stories Quilt, created at the Every Hour Counts National Institute (Boston, 2018)
Are you interested in bringing high-quality expanded learning opportunities to scale in your community? Are you eager to hear first-hand from innovators about their experiences building systems? Do you want to connect with peers who are tackling similar challenges and figure out solutions together?

You and leaders from your community are invited to the Every Hour Counts National Institute.

Our Institute brings together more than 150 participants from 25 + community teams around the country to tap the expertise of Every Hour Counts organizations and to build on one another’s ideas for developing and strengthening after-school, summer, and expanded learning programs that engage community partners and schools. This event is the only peer-to-peer learning institute for expanded-learning practitioners in the country.

We're proud to host this event in collaboration with the Denver Afterschool Alliance .
Together, we’ll explore the following system-building challenges and pressing issues:
  • Scaling high-quality practices: Discuss how to form authentic school and community partnerships that foster innovation, including student-centered learning approaches.
  • Defining and measuring success: Learn about strategies to develop community consensus around shared outcomes, including collecting and sharing data, measuring social and emotional skills, and designing a continuous quality improvement system to drive improvement. 
  • Sustainability: Discuss effective strategies to build an expanded-learning system for the long haul through advocacy, communications, fundraising, and partnerships.
  • Equity: Develop a greater capacity for thinking through your community's system-building efforts to better ensure your system is operating with racial equity at the forefront.
  • Governance structures: Learn about the variety of coordinating models to strengthen the governance structure that best meets your local needs and context.

Communities are invited to bring teams of 3-5 leaders that may include the following stakeholder groups:
  • Local intermediary
  • School system partner
  • Statewide Afterschool Network
  • Local foundation
  • Youth representatives
  • Mayor’s office or other government agency
  • Professional development partner
  • Program or direct service organization 
Details 
The Institute will begin on Thursday, November 7 at 8:00 a.m. and conclude on Friday, November 8 at 4:00 p.m. The event will be held at the Grand Hyatt Denver, 1750 Welton Street, Denver, Colorado.

Team leaders are invited to join The Wallace Foundation on the evening of Wednesday, November 6, for a reception and conversation focused on the latest successes, challenges and needs of communities building out-of-school time and expanded learning systems. 

Cost
The registration fee for a community team of 3-5 representatives is $2750. The registration fee includes meals on both days and all materials. Participants are responsible for their own travel and lodging. We have a room block at the Grand Hyatt Denver for $225/night.

To save a spot for your community team, complete this registration form or email Ally Margolis , Policy & Communications Manager, Every Hour Counts, by Friday, August 30, 2019.

This event is made possible with support from The Wallace Foundation.
Prior events were held in Baltimore (2014), Oakland (2015), Chicago (2016), and Boston (2018).

A leader from Denver Public Schools had this to say about our Institute:

When we began talking about formalizing our system-building work in Denver more than five years ago we felt as though we were on an island. What exactly is after-school system building work? We’ve tried a lot of things and collaborated, but how do we turn that in to a system? Who is out there to learn from?
 
And there isn’t a better group of leaders to learn from. There’s no ego in the after-school field. It turns out system-building isn’t an island at all, it’s a deep, strong, rich community where we all know what matters most – our kids. And whether those kids live in Denver, or Seattle, or New Orleans, or Dallas, we are all willing to share ideas, to bounce things off each other, and to add to the collective pool of knowledge.

So we dipped in and we hope added to that pool of knowledge when we joined our colleagues from across the county, and we came home ready to act. Every staff team meeting we’ve had since we’ve returned someone has referenced something they heard from another city at the Every Hour Counts Institute. We know our work will be stronger this year as a result of our time with peer cities and we’re excited to come back next year to share what we’ve put into action as a result.
Every Hour Counts   is a coalition of citywide organizations that increases access to quality learning opportunities, particularly for underserved students. The organization is a leading voice promoting expanded-learning systems, which provide learning and enrichment through after-school, summer, and other initiatives. Expanded-learning systems help students be more connected to school, build self-confidence, and connect with caring adults, so every student can thrive.