Home CLC Classes About Us Support CLC Contact Us CLC in the News Employment Opportunities

About Us


Since 1987, CLC has served more than 6,000 adult and teen learners. CLC fosters personal growth, economic self-sufficiency, and the pursuit of lifelong learning. We help our learners to improve their reading, writing, math, and computer skills and to expand their sphere of general knowledge. We help our learners transition to employment, college, and job training programs, and to overcome difficult societal and personal issues that can otherwise impede the attainment of goals.

Read more about:
Family Reading Book

CLC Core Values


Access to Education

CLC values access to education for all students and their families. We promote individual growth and community change through lifelong learning.


Mutual Responsibility

CLC fosters a shared commitment to learning with an expectation of excellence for both teachers and students.


Respect

CLC respects the life experience that learners bring into the classroom. We provide a nurturing place for learning and sharing, with curricula that are sensitive to our students' needs.


Holistic Approach to Teaching and Learning

CLC meets learners' needs by using student-centered teaching techniques, with an emphasis on individual attention. Our holistic approach honors teachers as learners and learners as teachers.
2009 Graduates New Wave Graduation
Summer 2010 Class

CLC Programs


Education Program 

Community Learning Center provides no-cost instruction in Adult Basic Education and  GED Preparation. Classes are held at community locations in North Philadelphia. In addition, CLC participates in the Move Up initiative, the College and Career Advancement Program (CCAP), PhillyWorks, and Skills Booster. CLC also partners with Suburban Station Pennsylvania CareerLink and is a Pennsylvania Workforce Improvement Network (PA WIN) affiliate.


Student Support Services Program

With the guidance of CLC's transition and life skills counselor, students explore career interests and set self-directed goals. Our counselor helps students in our community classes acquire life and employability skills and advance to job training, college, or other post-secondary education. Our counselor endeavors to communicate with former students to gauge CLC's impact and to assist those still in transition. We counsel students about issues that may be obstacles to attendance at CLC and the attainment of financial self-sufficiency and other goals. We inform students of, and link them with, additional community resources that can provide further support.  

Our Skills Booster class has its own career counselor, who is present, along with the teacher, in all class sessions.
Linda and Barbara Dale Annette

Who We Are

CLC Students


CLC is based in North Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood, which bears the 19134 zip code. 

In 2005, the birth rate among girls ages 15-17 in the 19134 area was 76 per 1000. This rate was the highest of the city's 42 zip codes and was substantially higher than the overall citywide rate of 43 per 1000.

Of all Kensington families, 28.3% are headed by single women. Of those families, 50% live below the poverty level, compared with 32.2% of families headed by single women citywide.

Of the 10 largest U.S. cities, Philadelphia has the highest poverty rate. In Kensington, 38% of individuals and 33% of families live below the poverty level, compared with 22.9% of individuals and 18.4% of families citywide. In 2007, the estimated unemployment rate in Kensington was 18.4%, compared with 12.7% citywide.

From 2002 to 2006, the number of gunshot victims ages 7-24 in Kensington rose by 84%. In 2006, there were 254 juvenile drug arrests in 19134—more than in any other Philadelphia zip code.

Only 53.4% of Kensington adults age 25 and older have a high school diploma, compared with 71.2% citywide; 13.8% of Kensington adults age 25 and older have less than a ninth grade education, compared with 7.5% citywide.

In 2005-2006, the public high school dropout rate in the region formed by the Kensington, Bridesburg, and Richmond neighborhoods was the highest of the city's 11 regions; 35.9% of first-time ninth graders dropped out of public school before graduation. Only 47.5% of first-time ninth graders graduated from public high school in four years, and the public school average daily attendance was 85.3%—the lowest such rates of any region.

Twenty-two percent of Philadelphia's adults lack everyday literacy skills.

(Above statistics are from Community Report Cards 2007, Mayor's Commission on Children; U.S. Census 2000; Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/30/07; National Center for Education Statistics Literacy Survey, 2003; Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/9/2009)


GED Graduates


In June, we celebrate the special achievements of CLC learners. Students and their families gather for an awards and graduation celebration. Teachers honor individual students for their unique accomplishments — from progress in math to obtaining employment to writing an excellent essay — during the past school year. Those who earned a Commonwealth Secondary Diploma by passing all five sections of the GED exam dress in cap and gown and inspire others to overcome obstacles and plan new goals. In 2009-2010, CLC had a record number of GED graduates.

Barbara and Kathlleen Dwight Haynes George and Senaida Carole and Joseph Linda Youmans

CLC Professionals

Our team's talent, dedication, creativity, and commitment to our mission make our program a success.

Stephanie Chuang Fahringer

Stephanie Fahringer, development assistant and ABE/GED teacher at Suburban Station CareerLink, earned a B.A. and a teaching certificate at Swarthmore College. She has prior experience as a writing teacher at Laboratory Charter School, Philadelphia; a long-term substitute teacher at Abington Friends School; a tutor in Mandarin Chinese; and an English teacher at Tianjin University of Science and Technology, China. 		Carol S. Miller

Carol Miller serves as associate director and a Move Up teacher. She received a B.S. in Education magna cum laude from Millersville University of Pennsylvania, and she earned an M.B.A. from Villanova University, where she was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Beta Gamma Sigma National Honor Societies. A former middle school language arts teacher, Carol had a 25-year career in management at a large corporate law firm. She has also had broad, in-depth experience as a volunteer for nonprofit organizations, domestic and international.
Susanne Czarnecki

Sue Czarnecki is a Move Up teacher. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Ph.D. in molecular biology, and she previously worked as a research scientist and taught biology and chemistry at the college level.		 Sarah O'Doherty

Sarah O'Doherty, an Adult Basic Education teacher, graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in history and a teaching certificate. Thereafter, she attended Arcadia University, where she earned a C.A.S., certifying her to be a school principal, and an M.Ed., with certification as a reading specialist. Sarah was a classroom teacher at St. Francis of Assisi School and the Project Learn School in Philadelphia. She was a reading specialist at the Temple Laboratory School and in the Cheltenham School District, and she served as principal at the Shrewsbury Mountain School in Vermont. Sarah also has experience as a literacy consultant.
Patricia Haggerty

Patty Haggerty, a GED teacher, earned two bachelor's degrees from Rutgers University, one in art and the other in biology. Patty has experience in adult, elementary, and preschool education. In addition, she has management experience. Before joining our staff, Patty served as a volunteer at CLC.		 Christy A. Stephens

Christy Stephens, our transition and life skills counselor, graduated from Ohio State University with a B.A. in psychology. She taught social studies at Delaware Valley High School, physical education and technology at Central Ohio Christian School, and ninth grade at the Crittenton Community School in Columbus, Ohio. Christy has served as a volunteer at the Saturday Academy in Philadelphia and for HOPE worldwide.
Ellen F. Mason

Ellen Mason, a graduate of Antioch College, is an ABE/GED instructor. An experienced teacher, Ellen has also worked as a technical writer, human factors engineer, and electronics technician. In addition, she is a poet who performs with the ensemble Voices of a Different Dream.		 Rebecca Serfass Wagner

Becky Wagner, executive director, holds a B.A. in medical technology from Shippensburg State University, an M.S. in medical technology from the State University of New York, Buffalo, and a D.Ed. from Pennsylvania State University Harrisburg. She was previously coordinator of the Southeast Professional Development Center, Lancaster Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13; an ABE/GED and ESL teacher in the Adult Education Program, Lancaster Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13; an adjunct faculty member at Millersville University and Pennsylvania State University Great Valley; the owner of a computer software and application training company; a substitute science teacher in the Manheim Township, Manheim Central, and Ephrata School Districts; a clinical chemist at St. Joseph's Hospital and Health Care Center; a clinical chemistry instructor at Harrisburg Hospital School of Medical Technology; and a corporate trainer.

Leadership

Executive Director

Rebecca Serfass Wagner

Board of Directors

 Mary Flournoy, President
Retired Librarian, The Free Library of Philadelphia

Daniel V. Johns, Vice President
Partner, Ballard Spahr LLP

Fred Baumert, Treasurer
Civil Engineer, Keast & Hood Company

Jeffrey K. Daman, Secretary
Attorney, McCarter & English, LLP

Jeffrey P. Bodle
Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

Vera Da Vinci
Program Manager, Division of College, Career, and Technical Education, School District of Philadelphia

Joseph Hilton
West Area Administrator, The Free Library of Philadelphia
Irvin H. Hurwitz
Director of Institutional Advancement,
National Museum of American Jewish History

Ronald Kim
Vice President, Information Technology-IT PECO Solutions & Customer Platform, Exelon Corporation

Dale Mezzacappa
Contributing Editor, Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Maria E. Mills-Torres
World Languages Content Specialist,
Office of Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Development,
School District of Philadelphia

Karen Michael
Vice President, Clinical Services,
Keystone Mercy Health Plan AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies

Christine A. Rogers-Raetsch
Chief Executive, Vanguard

Kerry Rowe
System Audit Project Leader, Internal Audit,
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Anita Scott
Vice President, Director of Human Resources,
Radian Group Inc. 		Advisory Board

Charlotte Blake Alston
Storyteller

Mary Anderson
CLC Graduate; Student, West Chester University

Janice M. Borlandoe
Associate Vice President for Student Affairs,
University of the District of Columbia

John Cugini
Business Consultant, IBM Corporation

April J. Dungy

Barbara Guido
Human Resources Consultant

Patricia Lewis
Special Events Manager, JEVS Human Services

Lisa Lusby
Director, Passport Advantage, Keystone Mercy Health Plan

Helen Mullen
Retired Coordinator, Office of Work with Children,
The Free Library of Philadelphia

Kristen Rantanen
Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs,
JEVS Human Services

Natalia Quinteros-Guevara
Student, Community College of Philadelphia

Tracey Ray
Public Coordinator, The Free Library of Philadelphia

Harold Russell, D.V.M.

Andrea S. Taylor
Director of Training, Center for Intergenerational Learning,
Temple University

Ellen Wise

Peter W. Yenawine
Founder and Chief Designer, Crystal Signatures 


Funders
We are profoundly grateful to our many government, foundation, corporate, and individual donors, whose financial support enables CLC to offer its classes and other services free of charge.


CLC Logo How to Donate

Return to the top of the page.