Congressman Henry Cuellar Announces over $3 Million for After School Programs at UISD

Posted Date: 10/18/2024

Rep. Henry Cuellar announced over $3 million to UISD for the 2024-2025 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program – Texas Afterschool Centers on Education, also known as Texas ACE. This program provides after school instruction to high poverty schools, and helps students meet state and local standards in core academic subjects, such as reading and math.

After school programs have become more crucial than ever before, as families often have working parents.  “Our society has changed where sometimes kids are with grandparents, sometimes both parents work. This is why after school programs have become a win-win situation for everybody; They provide academic support, and college and career readiness, which is important because we’ve got to start teaching the young ones from a young age to start thinking about college,” said Congressman Cuellar

UISD Superintendent Dr. Gerardo Cruz highlighted how the types of activities in which students engage increases learning through application, while helping their families. “It's the after school programs where we pique the interests of our students. That's the driving force that makes our students want to come to school because they know, ‘hey, I'm going to be part of this after school program, and I'm going to do STEM, or I'm going to do robotics, or I'm going to do something fun.’ It keeps our students engaged but at the same time, those students may not know, they're actually learning; they're making connections to the classroom,” said Dr. Cruz.

Congressman Henry Cuellar

UISD Superintendent Dr. Gerardo Cruz