History of the Hub

Building on the success of the AfterZone, PASA and 10 community partners including the Providence Public School Department, created a similar after-school system for high school youth called the Hub. Youth were "graduating" from the content-rich AfterZone looking for ways to connect to the world around them, so in 2007, then-Mayor Cicilline funded a team comprised of adult/youth pairs from 10 youth-focused organizations in Providence—including Youth in Action, AS220, the Institute for Nonviolence, College Visions, and Youth Pride—to create an out-of-school-time learning system for high school youth. Their plan consisted of 3 key elements:

  1. Sharing knowledge and information through a dynamic web tool
  2. Creating a centrally located youth-run space where youth and providers can gather to share ideas, provide programs, and host events
  3. Developing public policies that increase youth access to after school learning, including receiving graduation credit for their OST experiences and crafting transportation solutions

Today, the Hub is acting as a citywide approach to building sustainable, high-quality expanded learning opportunities for high school-aged youth. In collaboration with the Providence Public School Department, the Hub is working with the Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex (JSEC), as well as a team of community partners, to develop an expanded learning opportunities credit policy, infrastructure, and model of practice for high school youth.

Planning and Design

In 2007, Mayor Cicilline funded a team to create an extended learning system for high school youth that would draft a plan, informed by leaders and youth, for PASA to support. 

The planning team, called the Urban Social Empowerment (USE) Collective, included individuals from 10 nonprofit organizations and the Providence Public School Department. Each organization brought a youth-adult pair to the process as equal partners. USE Collective partners were:

 

 

The Office of High Schools, Providence School Department, was also an essential collaborator for this planning process, facilitated by Michelle Duso and Jonny Skye Njie. This group met for 10 months to formulate a plan. It delivered the Hub Design Plan to the Mayor and PASA in November 2008, and it was approved by the PASA Board of Directors in January 2009. Read The Hub overview or full design plan.

Coordinating Council

 This council is a cross-section of community, education, policy, and business leaders.