Tell me about Lafayette's aftercare program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Guys, there are more factors at play here.
1) the gym is not yet operational- meaning LAP can't use it at the moment, causing a space crunch
2) classrooms are being used by LEP, so LAP has limited space in those as well
3) LAP's enrollment was increased from last year because it thought it would have the gym -- so it's got a bigger enrollment and less places to put people in general.

Everyone needs to hang on a few more months to see if stuff gets ironed out. If it doesn't, complain away.

Why on earth is LEP's space settled and LAP's is not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guys, there are more factors at play here.
1) the gym is not yet operational- meaning LAP can't use it at the moment, causing a space crunch
2) classrooms are being used by LEP, so LAP has limited space in those as well
3) LAP's enrollment was increased from last year because it thought it would have the gym -- so it's got a bigger enrollment and less places to put people in general.

Everyone needs to hang on a few more months to see if stuff gets ironed out. If it doesn't, complain away.

Why on earth is LEP's space settled and LAP's is not?

Because LAP was supposed to have used the gym...

[Anonymous]

Is LAP run by DCPS or the school itself? We would love to have our child in aftercare at Lafayette. With a brand new building of that size, it's inexcusable for the school not to have a bigger aftercare program. Yes, this year is bigger than last year, but it hardly begins to cover the number of kids in the school. Who is responsible for this? How does Janney run an aftercare program for 300 students and why doesn't Lafayette have space for at least as many kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is LAP run by DCPS or the school itself? We would love to have our child in aftercare at Lafayette. With a brand new building of that size, it's inexcusable for the school not to have a bigger aftercare program. Yes, this year is bigger than last year, but it hardly begins to cover the number of kids in the school. Who is responsible for this? How does Janney run an aftercare program for 300 students and why doesn't Lafayette have space for at least as many kids?

Neither. It's run by a separate, independent board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is LAP run by DCPS or the school itself? We would love to have our child in aftercare at Lafayette. With a brand new building of that size, it's inexcusable for the school not to have a bigger aftercare program. Yes, this year is bigger than last year, but it hardly begins to cover the number of kids in the school. Who is responsible for this? How does Janney run an aftercare program for 300 students and why doesn't Lafayette have space for at least as many kids?

Neither. It's run by a separate, independent board.

What independent board?

[Anonymous]

Bump

Anyone know what actually happened?

[Anonymous]

The school has selected an outside provider to run the aftercare program next year; this provider will be replacing LAP. There will be space for at least 300 students. There was a school committee that reviewed three different proposals and made a recommendation to the principal. The LAP board ultimately decided that it couldn't run such a large program and decided to try and team up with an outside provider, but that provider was not selected. Hopefully the new provider will be able to accommodate everyone who wants a spot.

[Anonymous]

But what really happened?

One doesn't just casually dump a 40+ year old community founded organization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But what really happened?

One doesn't just casually dump a 40+ year old community founded organization.

What really happened is that the principal asked LAP to expand to accommodate 300 students and LAP (rightly) said it couldn't manage that. I commend them on their long history and also knowing their limits. But a school this size (possibly 800 next year) simply needs to offer more than 150 aftercare spots. It's all for the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But what really happened?

One doesn't just casually dump a 40+ year old community founded organization.

LAP refused to grow (or couldn't put a management/governing body together) to accommodate the demand of the school community.

[Anonymous]

And why did they say they couldn't expand? There is definitely more to this then you are letting on.

Who is at fault for killing off this community institution? The LAP ED, the LAP board, the Principal or DCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But what really happened?

One doesn't just casually dump a 40+ year old community founded organization.

LAP refused to grow (or couldn't put a management/governing body together) to accommodate the demand of the school community.

So it was a failure of the LAP ED/board? They either tried to call what they thought was a bluff or the board just couldn't be bothered any more?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And why did they say they couldn't expand? There is definitely more to this then you are letting on.

Who is at fault for killing off this community institution? The LAP ED, the LAP board, the Principal or DCPS?

It's not that suspicious. They were asked to get to 300 students-- and they said they couldn't do it. They are a parent-run group who aren't in a position to run a business of that size. Their executive director was better at the programming than at the business end of things and she wouldn't or couldn't do it. They endorsed another outside vendor in the end and said they would disband. On the recommendation of an after school parents committee, the principal selected the new vendor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But what really happened?

One doesn't just casually dump a 40+ year old community founded organization.

LAP refused to grow (or couldn't put a management/governing body together) to accommodate the demand of the school community.

So it was a failure of the LAP ED/board? They either tried to call what they thought was a bluff or the board just couldn't be bothered any more?

I think they knew that neither the ED nor the board had the skills needed to scale and run a program that large. They also may have tried to call what they thought was a bluff, but regardless they still couldn't have managed it.

[Anonymous]

Interesting since there are other home-grown afterschool programs that can have 300+ kids, and that the parent board (after 40 years) just decided to disband rather than figure out how to scale up.