Community Extension programs

Community Extension Programs has a rich tradition of serving the needs of Tucson’s youth and their families. It’s one in which we take great pride.

Our work began in 1970 when we established Amphitheater Community Schools under the direction of the Amphitheater School District. Working closely with District personnel, our schools created and delivered much-needed before and after-school programs for grades K-6 and a summer high school program.

In 1990, we started delivering our services as a separate non-profit, Amphitheater Extension Programs. Our relationship with the District continued to grow during the next two decades as demand for services increased. While continuing to deliver before and after-school programs, we expanded our summer school classes to include grades 5-12. 

Our new community education classes for adults and children offered programs in driving instruction, sports, cooking and pottery. And we delivered intercession classes as the District experimented with a year-around school calendar. We also added two pre-schools and received full-licensing for all our before and after-school programs with the Department of Health Services.

In 1992, we changed our name to Community Extension Programs (CEP) to reflect the breadth of services we now provided to the community. As the years progressed, we opened more pre-schools and added a Summer STEM Camp for grades 1-6. 

We took a major step in 2011 by entering into a relationship with the Tucson Unified School District. We added two new pre-schools and three before and after-school programs. These programs delivered significant benefits to the children and parents of the District. 

By early 2020, our continuing work in the community now included nine before and after-school programs, two preschools, and the STEM Program for grades 1-6. Then the Covid pandemic hit in March and with it our 50 year history of providing educational programs to the community came to an end. 

Fortunately,  when one door closes, another opens. Today, the need to provide support to our community is greater than ever before. As a result, CEP has reinvented itself with a vision to serve the Greater Tucson area by providing financial assistance and empowering people to overcome hardship while we do our part in creating a community where all people can reach their full potentials. 

We now extend our reach to a larger segment of greater Tucson’s neediest people. With the help of our community partners, new chapters will be written and our history will continue.