America Scores Cleveland

“Prior to filing, the form 990 is presented to the executive director for review and approval. The form 990 is then electronically distributed to the board of directors in advance of filing.”

“Each year, the board members are asked to review the organization's conflict of interest policy. Among other things, the policy makes clear that all decisions of the board, officers, and employees of the organization are made solely on the basis of a desire to promote the best interest of the organization and the public good. The conflict of interest statement requests board members to identify to the best of their knowledge affiliations with organizations that may be potentially related to the financials or other substantive operations of the organization. They are also asked to identify circumstances involving either themselves, or a member of their extended family, that may be construed as a conflict of interest. At the staff level, the organization's personnel also ensure that there are no conflicts of interest when considering the engagement of a new vendor. If a potential conflict is identified, appropriate steps are taken to both assess the nature of the potential conflict and, subsequently, to ensure that the possibility of an actual conflict is mitigated. Such mitigation is managed and the letter and spirit of the conflicts policy are upheld.”

“The executive committee annually evaluates the performance of the executive director. Compensation is based on performance and compared to other area mission-comparable organizations of similar size. Compensation for staff within the organization is determined by the executive director. The level of compensation is set based on performance and in relation to other area mission-comparable organizations of similar size. This compensation is a component of the budget, which is reviewed and approved by the finance committee and also by the board as a whole.”

“The organization's governing documents, form 1023, form 990 conflict of interest policy and financial statements are made available to the public upon request. The form 990, without schedule b) can also be found on several publicly-accessible websites.”

“Core soccer programming for grades 3-5 poet-athletes (students from partnering cleveland metropolitan schools) meet with their soccer coaches for soccer practices and games during afterschool hours two days per week for 22 weeks of the school year, utilizing the america scores soccer curriculum. This curriculum emphasizes character-building skills such as leadership, teamwork and commitment, daily lessons end with discussion promoting healthy behaviors, self-esteem, goal setting and school stewardship. Poet-athletes play games between america scores schools at school sites and other community locations once per week. Program years begin and end with community soccer events. During fy24, 354 students in grades 3-5 participated in the program throughout the 22 weeks of which 70% were returning students from fall to spring, a significantly higher retention rate from past years. 73% of participants improved on the pacer test in the number of shuttles run from their pre- to post-assessment. 97% of caregivers agreed that their child spends more time physically active since being part of the scores program.”

“Core writing programming for grades 3-5 poet-athletes (students from partnering cleveland metropolitan schools) meet with their writing coaches for creative writing workshops during afterschool hours two days per week for 22 weeks of the school year. In the fall, poet-athletes are engaged in the "power of poetry" curriculum. The fall season ends with a poetry slam. The spring writing curriculum, "writing for the community", focuses on service-learning, where poet- athletes select a community issue and then work as a team to implement a service project. The spring season ends with a presentation of team-led community projects. During fy24, 354 students in grades 3-5 participated in the program throughout the 22 weeks. 78% of participants maintained or showed improved on the 6+1 trait writing assessment from pre to post test. 97% of coaches surveyed, agreed that participants in the program showed improvement in their language arts skills; 87% of participants agreed that the scores program helped them become comfortable and confident when speaking in front of groups of people; 97% of caregivers/parents agreed that because of the scores program their child's academic performance improved since joining america scores.”

“Additional programming additional programming in fy24 included a junior program for grades 1-2 at 14 schools and a middle school program for grades 6-8, offered in both schools and in partnership with the city of cleveland recreation and resource centers. Practices ranged from 60 to 120 minutes and were held two to four days per week, with an equal focus on soccer and literacy programming. Approximately 246 students participated in jr. Scores for at least one day of programming, with 95% improving or maintaining their scores on dolch sight word pre- and post-assessments. Additionally, 94 middle school students participated in the spring session, with 95% reporting that the scores program boosted their confidence, and 89% of caregivers agreed that their child spent more time reading or writing after joining the program. Summer programming spanned five to ten weeks in collaboration with nonprofit organizations, cmsd summer schools, and the city of cleveland recreation centers. In total, scores served an additional 910 youth in grades 1-8 through its additional programs. Overall, america scores engaged 1,264 cleveland youth during fy24.”