By Maya Betti, News Intern
Northfield’s Community Education program is experiencing some exciting growth, according to a presentation by Community Education Director Erin Bailey at May 12’s school board meeting.
At the meeting, Bailey shared just how much interest has grown. Last year alone, over 11,000 people participated in community education programs, and facility usage by residents outside of the regular K-12 school day surpassed 1 million hours.
In addition to these numbers, the program saw a 26% increase in attendance at adult basic education, according to Bailey.
“So, continuing to see a great increase in attendance at adult basic education, which is really great,” – Community Education Director Erin Bailey
With this much growth, Northfield is adding a GED testing center after demand for classes surged. Renovations are also underway at the former Greenvale Park elementary site to improve adult learning spaces.
“That’s kind of a natural progression once you start having a relatively good size of GED students because ultimately the goal is you want them to test and to complete their GED, so we are also in the process of that,” – Community Education Director Erin Bailey.
Recreation and enrichment programs are also thriving. “Participation numbers in these areas have surpassed pre-pandemic levels,” Bailey reported, noting that summer registration, which opened April 4, is already off to a strong start.
Early Childhood Family Education continues to be a major draw, with many classes filling quickly due to high demand.
As interest continues to grow across all age groups, Northfield’s Community Education program is poised to expand its impact while weighing the potential financial issues that are associated with that.
Be sure to check back Wednesday for a follow-up story on how the Community Education program is addressing budget challenges amid this period of growth.
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