Update on Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley’s Strategic Direction

The mission of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley, “to inspire and enable all young people, especially those that need us most, to reach their full potential as responsible, productive, caring citizens,” compels our organization to respond to the needs of kids across our region. Therefore, the Board of Directors  has chosen to further our strategy of placing our people and programs in much closer proximity to where young people live and go to school daily. As part of this strategy, BGCTNV is entering into a lease purchase agreement  with Knoxville Prep for our facility located at 957 and 967 Irwin Street. This agreement will serve as a catalyst over the next several years to serve more young people in more effective and efficient ways across our 5 county region.

Here are some key considerations and facts that drive this strategy and decision for our organization:

  • The need for our services is at an all-time high, as well as the costs to deliver our services. More than 2,500 kids served in August alone with several Clubs with waiting lists.
  • BGCTNV is working to implement a service delivery model that makes our Clubs more effective and efficient. 1) This transaction will allow BGCTNV to reduce transportation costs, facility maintenance costs, utility costs and invest more dollars in our most meaningful assets, our people and programs. 2) This will also help increase our daily programming time for many members which is lost due to transportation.
  • This new model will allow us to serve more kids daily and annually, as our cost per child will decrease.
  • BGCTNV will continue to serve K-12 students for the 2023-24, 24-25, and 25-26 school years in the Regal and Haslam buildings.
  • We are working with KCS, the City of Knoxville, and other local school districts to identify new school based and shared space opportunities to serve more kids at a lower cost per child, which will provide for higher quality programming and greater sustainability.
  • BGCTNV plans to have a long-term agreement with Knox Prep to continue providing after school programming in the Regal facility for their middle and high school students, along with students from other local middle and high schools.
FAQs
What is Knoxville Preparatory School?

Knoxville Preparatory School will be an all-boys public charter school. It will open in the fall of 2024 with an inaugural sixth-grade class and will add an additional class each academic year until it reaches 12th grade in the 2030-31 academic year.

Learn more about Knoxville Preparatory School
What is Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley’s relationship with Knoxville Preparatory School?

Knoxville Prep School will operate their school at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley’s facility located at 957 and 967 Irwin Street. Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley also will provide after school programming for students of Knoxville Prep on site. While these two examples demonstrate our organization’s partnership and shared vision of excellent service to kids with Knoxville Prep, we are separate entities with separate governing bodies.

What is the vision of services to kids of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley?

Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley has been in the Knoxville community since 1943. Through that time our services have grown to 23 locations across our five-county area. In recent years, we have realized, however, that centralized services can often limit our organization’s reach and impact. As we move forward, our organization’s focus, vision, and commitment is that we will provide excellent service in the most effective and efficient way possible. Therefore, we will continue to pursue more service delivery models that are done in partnership with local schools, churches, and local government-owned facilities. This leverages existing infrastructure, minimizes overhead expenses, and places our services in close proximity to where kids live and go to school. This allows us to invest more of our resources into our staff and the experiences we offer to kids and families.

How does the partnership with Knoxville Preparatory School impact the services delivered by Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley?

In alignment with our future vision of embedding more programs and Clubs in communities where kids live and go to school, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley, over the next 4-5 years, will transition services for elementary-aged students into more community-based locations, in partnership with other entities. The efficiency that this change will promote will allow us to serve additional kids at a lower cost per child. Further, middle and high school students will still be able to be served as part of the after school program at 957 and 967 Irwin Street.