Community benefits from school access; Vermont: Chittenden South Supervisory Union.

Making a high school a key community resource has made Chittenden South Supervisory Union in Hinesburg, Vt., a state winner in the 2006 National Civic Star Award competition.

The school-resource program, known as "Access to CVU," connects the communities of Chittenden South Supervisory Union at the central facility, Champlain Valley Union High School in Hinesburg. Committees made up of school and business leaders and community volunteers developed the idea for the program, which was initiated with a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant in 1998.

The school-access program has provided a shared resource for the towns of Charlotte, Hinesburg, Shelburne, St. George and Williston, as well as towns in adjacent school districts. It has also provided an educational venue for parents, teachers, administrators, community members, businesses and agencies and has created life-long learning opportunities for community members.

The program coordinates resources from CSSU and the CVU campus. Among the program's offerings are a summer camp, which serves as a transition experience for incoming ninth graders, and autumn, winter and spring course offerings for the community.

Examples of activities taking place at the school are hip-hop classes for middle-school students, computer instruction for senior citizens and cooking classes offered by restaurant owners. Students participate in community-service projects organized through the program, fulfill graduation requirements and offer courses themselves, such as guitar and web site design.

The district provides administrative support for the program and presents the needs of teachers, parents and students. Business partners contribute instructors, supplies, incentives for participation and ads for the course catalogue. Local agencies offer curriculum ideas and resources for babysitting, parent training and smoking-cessation classes.

The summer camp aims to help students create positive connections to new peers, the school site and staff. Campers learn to make choices about learning and to experience success. They also initiate activity in sports, clubs and other extracurricular activities. Counselors share experiences about high school academics, culture and opportunities. They also serve as mentors and owners to improve the camp experience to increase participation.

As measures of success:

* Course enrollment increased from 200 in 1999 to more than 2,000 in 2004.

* Courses offered rose from 16 in 1999 to more than 200 in 2004.

* The summer camp provided more than $10,000 in scholarship money from fundraising and community sponsors.

* Camp enrollment has increased each year.

Plans for Access to CVU include implementing toddler foreign-language workshops and playgroups; offering technology courses based on the needs of district teachers and community businesses; reaching out to agencies to help encourage underserved or low-income people in the community to participate, and adding a summer session of course offerings and expanding course locations to other district schools.

For more information, contact Superintendent Brian O'Regan at Chittenden South Supervisory Union, 369 CVU Rd., Hinesburg, Vt. 05461, or call [phone]. The e-mail address is bo'[e-mail].