Staff Report - City of Alexandria

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We have begun enrolling children in the 2011 Summer OSTP. The theme of the program
is “Let’s Go Green.” We developed a special summer brochure to highlight youth
programs we are offering.
Staff will introduce a new sports and fitness for children enrolled in the Power-On
Program in September 2011. Staff will introduce the program as a pilot program this
summer. The primary goal of the program is to engage children in physical activity each
day the program is in session. The program standard will be for children to be engaged in
30-45 minutes of physical activity every day.
We opened the soft playroom at Charles Houston for preschool age children in early May
2011.
Charles Houston Recreation Center, in collaboration with ACPS, held an evening of jazz
event at the center on June 3 featuring the jazz bands from ACPS’ secondary schools.
Children in the ACCT program’s choir from William Ramsay Recreation Center
performed. We received very positive feedback from those who attended. Staff estimated
more than 400 people attended the event and we received very positive feedback from
attendees.
We have generated $40,000 (YTD in FY-2011) from the fitness room fees that we
implemented at the start of FY-2011.
The Parker Gray Roundtable Group and Charles Houston Recreation Center staff is
planning a landscaping project at Charles Houston Recreation Center. We will involve
children from the center after school program in the project. In addition, the group is
planning a community movie night at the center on June 17. Coach Herman Boone and
members of the Titans football team will participate in the event.
We will not operate a summer playground program at Tancil Court this summer. We are
working with ARHA to encourage parents that reside in the Tancil Court area to enroll
their children in the summer program at Charles Houston. We will implement a
transportation program to transport children at designated times to and from the Charles
Houston Recreation Center. This will not involve extra costs, as we will build this route
into the existing summer bus schedule.
I continue to work with our Human Resources Department and Child Protective Services
on the incident of physical assault of a child involving Robert Gordon, Center Director at
the Charles Barrett Recreation Center. Mr. Gordon was found guilty in Juvenile and
Domestic Relations Court. Actions are underway to terminate his employment with the
City.
The National Safe Place (NSP) training for RPCA is underway. Approximately 75% of
staff has been trained. RPCA staff will be conducting training and community outreach
over the next two months. We will implement NSP in September 2011.
Aquatics
Aquatics staff is planning a water safety initiative to reach children who for various
reasons have not learned how to swim. We will implement the program in early summer
of 2011. Staff is seeking sponsorship for the program and is planning to enlist the support
of local swim team coaches and volunteers to implement the program.
The Warwick and Old Town Pools opened on Memorial Day. Attendance at both pools
was at capacity most of the day. The Memorial Pool at Charles Houston Recreation
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