21ST century community learning centers program

The Arizona Department of Education received a $22.1 million formula grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education under the Twenty-First Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program (CFDA 84.287) awarded on July 1, 2025, with performance extending through September 30, 2026. This formula grant supports the establishment and expansion of community learning centers that provide academic enrichment and developmental services to school-aged children, particularly those attending high-poverty and low-performing schools. The program delivers comprehensive out-of-school time programming including tutoring, homework assistance, mentoring, academic enrichment, and extracurricular activities in arts, music, sports, and cultural areas designed to supplement in-school instruction and support student academic achievement.

As the state educational agency, the Arizona Department of Education distributed these funds through sub-awards to 39 local implementing organizations across the state, including school districts, charter schools, and community-based organizations such as Fowler Elementary School District 45, Flowing Wells Unified School District, Tucson Unified School District, Sunnyside Unified School District 12, Phoenix Union High School District, and numerous other Arizona school districts. These sub-awardees use the funding to operate before and after-school programs, summer enrichment activities, youth development initiatives, family engagement services, and academic intervention programs that target disadvantaged and low-achieving student populations throughout Arizona's communities.