By Emily Randall

Northeast News

For the past two school years, fifth-grader Susana Cerda has had a safe place to go after school, a place where she can do art projects while improving her reading, writing, social studies and science skills.

Susana is a participant in the Mattie Rhodes after-school cultural arts program. She is one of about 30 children who walk across the street from James Elementary School to the Mattie Rhodes Northeast Satellite on Topping Avenue every day. While she worked on a symbol-decoding project in creative writing class Thursday, Susana explained she loves the program because of the art and the snacks. She also said she appreciates how close her school is to Mattie Rhodes.

“We don’t have to walk that much,” she said, “and it’s safe.”

Next year, however, Susana and her peers may not have the convenience of walking just across the street for their after-school activities. The Kansas City, Mo., School District may close half of its school buildings, including James Elementary.

Alisha Gambino, education curator of the program, said closing James would put a stress on her program, which has produced improved reading skills this year in most participants.

“This is an ideal situation here with the school right across the street,” Gambino said. “Everything about it makes it easier dealing with James than a school farther away.”

Mattie Rhodes Executive Director John Fierro agreed the James School closure would challenge the programming the satellite center is providing to Northeast’s children.

“The continuity we’ve established, that will be cut off if that school’s closed,” Fierro said. “All of that intervention goes to waste.”

In addition to the cultural arts after-school program for elementary-age children, Mattie Rhodes offers the Explorers program for middle school-aged children who are at high risk of joining gangs, teen pregnancy, dropping out of school and other negative behaviors.

Those children — about 50 total between Explorers and the arts program — currently have a safe place to go after school until 6 p.m., at which point many of their parents are able to walk to the center to pick them up.

“Now it’s, ‘Where am I going to send my child?’ and “Will the new school provide that,’” Fierro said.

Mattie Rhodes Community Liaison Erika Noguera said the issue of James’ closing not only impacts the center’s ability to serve the children who attend the school, but also creates a situation where, if the children are bused out of their neighborhood to go to school, their sense of community could be damaged.

“We’re providing kids a place to feel they belong in their neighborhood,” she said.

Mattie Rhodes has invested $500,000 into renovating the Northeast Satellite building. Fierro said after all the improvements, the building would be at increased risk of vandalism with an abandoned school — which could be a sitting target for break-ins and graffiti — next door.

“That’s going to be a huge concern,” he said. “We’ll have to worry about people breaking into our building.”

Although his concern about vandalism is real, Fierro said Mattie Rhodes would not consider leaving the Northeast community, even if James is closed.

“We’re in it for the long haul,” he said.