Virtual Y Receives National Recognition

After nearly three years of reorganizing, improving, planning and measuring the quality of their After-School Program, the Virtual Y site at P.S. 22, a public elementary school on Staten Island, became the first after-school program in New York City to meet the National School-Age Care Alliance (NSACA) standards. The NSACA standards are designed to describe the best practices in out of school programs for children and youth between the ages of five and 14 and are the only professional measurements with which to evaluate the quality of after-school programming throughout the nation.

“The Virtual Y program at P.S. 22 is the largest of the 104 school-based, after school programs that the YMCA offers across the city. With 325 students and an even longer waiting list, it is also one of the most unique,” stated Paula Gavin, President of the YMCA.

Having grown from ten sites in 1997 to 104 for the 2000-2001 academic year, the Virtual Y, created by the YMCA of Greater New York, in conjunction with the NYC Board of Education, is the city’s largest public/private partnership, fully funded by more than 125 private sponsors.

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