First, I want to welcome all of you back to Oasis Community Corporation (Oasis) from your summer break for the 2008-09 school year. We are so thankful and honored that you are entrusting Oasis with the awesome responsibility of providing enriching, community-based after-school services to your children. We take this responsibility seriously and welcome the opportunity to work with your children. We promise to make sure that they are safe, nurtured, protected, educated and respected.

My goal is to make Oasis the very best after-school service provider in the City of New York. In order to accomplish this goal, we must hire, train, and retain the best professional staff; improve and enhance our programmatic offerings; expand this vital service to all of the boroughs of New York City; expand our individual donor base and our foundation and government supporters; and build a substantial endowment that will ensure Oasis’ fiscal viability for years to come.

I am proud to inform you that during the 2008-09 school year Oasis will operate 16 after-school programs in Brooklyn (4), Queens (1), the Bronx (1) and Manhattan (10) for approximately 1,500 students from low-income and working class families. I would like to welcome our new families from the following schools: P.S. 187 (Manhattan); P.S. 127(Queens); P.S. 145 (Manhattan); P.S. 191 (Manhattan); P.S. 208 (Manhattan); and P.S. 3 (Manhattan). We promise that all of these schools will get the very best Oasis has to offer in after-school services. That is why we are instituting new organizational systems and enrollment databases, hiring additional staff for headquarters, and purchasing needed equipment to ensure programmatic quality and a smooth transition with all of the growth this organization is experiencing this coming year.

Oasis is poised for a break out year. We are offering an array of innovative and enriching activities in all of our programs like yoga, visual and performing arts, swimming, soccer, fashion, graffiti art, badminton, homework help/academic reinforcement, music, cooking, and community service learning projects.

Moreover, we are also continuing our intensive professional development activities to ensure that our staff members are equipped with the latest best practices in the after-school field. Our staff members will receive additional training from The After-School Corporation (TASC) and The Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD).

In closing, I promise that your child will develop academically, socially and emotionally after attending our program. We will work hard to earn your trust and make sure your family has a positive experience with us. Moreover, I also want you to know that we are here to serve you and your children in a professional and respectful manner. We look forward to another exciting year!

Sincerely,
Frank Brown, Esq.
Executive Director
Oasis Community Corp.