JACKSON, Wyo. — A new website makes finding learning out-of-school learning opportunities easier for parents and caregivers.
The new website, available in English and Spanish, features an expansive program directory to make finding out-of-school learning opportunities easier for parents and caregivers. ExpandedLearningJH.org allows users to filter out-of-school programs by date range, program content, child’s age, scholarship availability and more. New programs will be added as they’re announced, including afterschool programs for fall 2025 and beyond.
“While Teton County has an incredibly robust and diverse out-of-school learning landscape, it can be challenging and frustrating to navigate,” said Laurie Andrews, President of the Community Foundation. “Every young person should have the opportunity to thrive in their pursuit of lifelong learning, and this resource is one of many ways that Expanded Learning Collective is working to support families and youth in our community.”
As parents and caregivers know, finding the right program is only half the battle. Getting enrolled can be even more difficult. The Expanded Learning Collective and its member organizations are also working to improve educational access through lottery systems, improving language access and raising awareness of scholarship opportunities for summer and afterschool programming. The Expanded Learning Collective believes that universal access to out-of-school learning has the power to close the educational opportunity gap and support the success and fulfillment of youth in Teton County.
As a collective of education organizations and community leaders, each organization brings unique skills and perspectives to collaboratively address the needs of our community that no one person or organization can meet on their own. Organizations work to address barriers to access, support educator recruitment and retention, and build stronger relationships between providers and their constituents. The new name and logo better reflect this collaboration.
“Our new brand is a very exciting opportunity to bring the work of our collective to the broader Teton County community,” said Colby Mitchell, Backbone Leader of the Expanded Learning Collective and the Community Foundation’s Education and Families Initiative. “To address the issues affecting educational access, we need to deepen our relationships with local families and listen intently to their concerns.”
To get a better picture of the needs of the community, the Expanded Learning Collective has also been working for the last year to develop The Education Dashboard. The Education Dashboard is part of the Teton Community Wellbeing Dashboard, a resource facilitated and stewarded by LegacyWorks Group in partnership with over 70 local partners and organizations. The Education Dashboard is a data tool collaboratively created by community-invested partners and supported by the Expanded Learning Collective. This shared data tool will help inform and guide future education improvements for Teton County.
Formerly Systems of Education, the Expanded Learning Collective was formed in 2010 and includes more than 35 local education and youth service nonprofits, government agencies and community leaders. The Backbone Leader of the Expanded Learning Collective, an employee of the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, provides facilitation, fosters connectivity and builds alignment to make the group’s vision for more equitable out-of-school learning a reality.
