Aftercare at Stuart Hobson

[Anonymous]

OP here. My kid enjoyed aftercare in previous years. And it was not great aftercare. It was time for homework and then unstructured free time. She met kids beyond her classroom and grade and came home with her HW already done.

That is preferable to her being home all afternoon binging on screens while I wfh (sure, yes, she could be doing something productive. But she comes home and then I work so I am not supervising HW or nagging her to do something else.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid enjoyed aftercare in previous years. And it was not great aftercare. It was time for homework and then unstructured free time. She met kids beyond her classroom and grade and came home with her HW already done.

That is preferable to her being home all afternoon binging on screens while I wfh (sure, yes, she could be doing something productive. But she comes home and then I work so I am not supervising HW or nagging her to do something else.)

Clubs, sports, teacher hours and hanging out at a library after school -- these are all things my middle schooler does and are a great way to make friends outside of class. Different school but we have one friend who signed their kid up for aftercare and came to really regret paying for the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid enjoyed aftercare in previous years. And it was not great aftercare. It was time for homework and then unstructured free time. She met kids beyond her classroom and grade and came home with her HW already done.

That is preferable to her being home all afternoon binging on screens while I wfh (sure, yes, she could be doing something productive. But she comes home and then I work so I am not supervising HW or nagging her to do something else.)

Clubs, sports, teacher hours and hanging out at a library after school -- these are all things my middle schooler does and are a great way to make friends outside of class. Different school but we have one friend who signed their kid up for aftercare and came to really regret paying for the year.

Except that, again, aftercare at SH is free.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it will work for OP anyway. Website says there are 80 spots. 50 are for 6th grade.

It also says that some absences from afterschool due to participation in school sports or clubs are permitted, but anyone with repeated unexcused absences will lose their spot. The way it's worded sounds as if you can't choose to use it a few days a week.

I am looking at last fall's info, so I guess it could have a new policy starting 26-27, but that seems unlikely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it will work for OP anyway. Website says there are 80 spots. 50 are for 6th grade.

It also says that some absences from afterschool due to participation in school sports or clubs are permitted, but anyone with repeated unexcused absences will lose their spot. The way it's worded sounds as if you can't choose to use it a few days a week.

I am looking at last fall's info, so I guess it could have a new policy starting 26-27, but that seems unlikely.

I’m familiar with Stuart-Hobson’s aftercare program, and this poster is correct. You will be dropped from the program if your child doesn’t attend regularly. It’s not a “use it when you need it” kind of thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it will work for OP anyway. Website says there are 80 spots. 50 are for 6th grade.

It also says that some absences from afterschool due to participation in school sports or clubs are permitted, but anyone with repeated unexcused absences will lose their spot. The way it's worded sounds as if you can't choose to use it a few days a week.

I am looking at last fall's info, so I guess it could have a new policy starting 26-27, but that seems unlikely.

I’m familiar with Stuart-Hobson’s aftercare program, and this poster is correct. You will be dropped from the program if your child doesn’t attend regularly. It’s not a “use it when you need it” kind of thing.

It's a program intended to help the families whose kids really need adult supervision and whose home and/or neighborhood may not be safe.

You know when you hear about teens committing crimes and then people say "why aren't there after school programs to occupy these kids so they don't to commit crimes?" That's what this is. That's why it's free.

Demographics at SH have changed, but it still has a lot of kids need this kind of intervention/assistance. This is also why they have strict rules about attendance -- the kids and parents need that accountability (it will motivate a parent who really needs their kid in the program to try and make sure their kid doesn't ditch).

If your kid does NOT need that kind of intervention, please do not grab one of the limited spots because you can't figure out what else to do with your 6th grader on Wednesdays when they don't have sports. Send them to the library, let them go home without you, etc. Teach them some resilience. Don't use this program which is really not designed for them. Your kid has other, better options.

[Anonymous]

I'm a teacher and my school has ASAS, and there are students that get nothing out of it and are just there. There are also students that get excited about the programming. One student was recently excited about an anime art session, and they have a cooking class once a week that they seem to really like.

Many of my students that participate pick siblings up from a nearby elementary school and I think that parents put the middle schoolers in aftercare to keep them busy until it's time to collect the siblings. Having them all in aftercare keeps the time that the middle schoolers are in charge of the siblings to a minimum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid enjoyed aftercare in previous years. And it was not great aftercare. It was time for homework and then unstructured free time. She met kids beyond her classroom and grade and came home with her HW already done.

That is preferable to her being home all afternoon binging on screens while I wfh (sure, yes, she could be doing something productive. But she comes home and then I work so I am not supervising HW or nagging her to do something else.)

Clubs, sports, teacher hours and hanging out at a library after school -- these are all things my middle schooler does and are a great way to make friends outside of class. Different school but we have one friend who signed their kid up for aftercare and came to really regret paying for the year.

Except that, again, aftercare at SH is free.

Sounds like you get what you pay for!