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The Braintree After School Enrichment program was founded
as a non-profit 501 ( c ) (3) agency in August 1985 by Roselyn
Karll. The School Committee agreed to rent two rooms at Braintree
High School to the program at a minimal charge. The program
quickly outgrew this space and once again, through community
efforts, the B.A.S.E. program moved to a new location. The
new location was in a school that had been closed as a full
school building. The Town rented the gym and the cafeteria
to the program. This dedicated space allowed us to open an
all day ‘kindergarten surround program,” to assist children
who attended the quarter day kindergarten sessions, as well
as providing enough space for 95 children. Six years were
spent in that location, only to find out that the school would
soon reopen due to rising enrollments. The search was on to
try and locate new space to house all of the children. Strong
community organizing, citizen participation at School Committee
meetings and Town Meetings led to the rental of another school
building for the all day programs and a second school building
just for after school programs. Each year the program was
told that it could be the last year for occupancy because
of the once again rising school enrollments.
In 1995, a search committee was formed to try and locate land
or a building to continue to meet the needs of the community
for after school child care. After two years of looking, finally
a developer stepped forward with a piece of land for purchase
available for new construction. Although this was quite exciting,
the task ahead seemed even more ominous. A small private non-profit
enterprise had to secure a loan from a bank in order to proceed
with the project. Several large banks turned the project down
for various reasons. The local bank, Braintree Cooperative
was approached. Even though the bank is not a commercial bank,
the President, Edward Cocoran, felt it was a worthy project
and the bank could support it as a community endeavor. Thus
the loan was secured. Next the fundraising began to try and
raise $200,000 for the down payment. Once again, the bank
allowed us to raise our funds slowly and spread the down payment
out over several “construction” months. The Harold Brooks
Foundation awarded a $7000 grant with a matching $5000 grant
if we could raise $5000 within the community. This task was
completed and the fundraising continued. The ground breaking
ceremony was held in March of 1997 and construction was completed
in August 1998. B.A.S.E. opened its doors to 150 after school
children and 30 preschool children for all day, year round,
programs. B.A.S.E. also operated before school programs in
each of the seven elementary schools in the town from 7:00
A.M. to 8:45 A.M.
Once again the program saw a need to grow. The after school
program branched out and opened a program for the older children
in grade 4-8. This program is housed in an elementary school
and its mission is to meet the emotional and social needs
of this age group. It will do so through community service
programs in nursing homes, senior centers, and the local rehabilitation
hospital.
Sadly, Roselyn Karll passed away in December of 2002 after
an 18 month battle with cancer. Roselyn's daughters, Alysa
Rynne and her younger sister Meridith continue their mothers
dream of implementing comprehensive and inclusive educational
programs to children. More than 300 children are enrolled
in the educational program. |
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© Braintree After School Enrichment