Question about Arlington Extended Day program

[Anonymous]

We live in Arlington and my daughter will attend public school in the fall. I would like to sign her up for Extended Day and I'm job hunting but haven't found anything yet. I can't tell from the forms if both parents are required to be working to qualify for Extended Day - does anyone know how this works? A friend says it shouldn't be a problem to sign up since I'm looking for work, but I don't know how I would fill out the forms since they ask for your employer contact info and so forth....

Any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Have you called the extended day office? They're very nice there, and I'm sure this is a question they've addressed before.

Good luck with the job hunt!

[Anonymous]

do you know the some programs are more expensive then others? it's not a lot of money (i think the most expensive schools cost <$100/mo more ) but i just don't quite understand it.

yeah i think i'll call the office and find out

[Anonymous]

Lunch costs more at a couple of the elementary schools (not sure why -- demographics?), but the forms for extended day suggest that costs are the same by school, just higher for higher-income families.

Anyway, after five years of daycare costs, extended day seemed like such a bargain I didn't care.

[Anonymous]

I think anyone can sign up for extended day. You don't have to be a working parent.

My neighbor pays about 400 a month for before and after care in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

OP here - I sent an email to the Extended Day office and found out the following:

"At this time, we will not accept the application without the completed employment information.
The deadline to submit completed applications is August 1, however, if you have still not found employment by that time, check back with us to see if we have a contingency in place.
You may still submit applications after the August 1 deadline; we may or may not have a wait list for services for the site which you are applying. Our goal is to provide services to all families in need."

So basically, if you are unemployed but actively looking for work, you can't sign up until you are employed, at which point it will probably be too late to be guaranteed a spot. If you don't get a spot, then what do you do for child care? Scramble to find a sitter or nanny? This sucks.

[Anonymous]

Maybe get a part-time job anywhere just to say you are employed? Even working at Starbucks. You would think in this economy they would be more flexible!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I sent an email to the Extended Day office and found out the following:

"At this time, we will not accept the application without the completed employment information.
The deadline to submit completed applications is August 1, however, if you have still not found employment by that time, check back with us to see if we have a contingency in place.
You may still submit applications after the August 1 deadline; we may or may not have a wait list for services for the site which you are applying. Our goal is to provide services to all families in need."

So basically, if you are unemployed but actively looking for work, you can't sign up until you are employed, at which point it will probably be too late to be guaranteed a spot. If you don't get a spot, then what do you do for child care? Scramble to find a sitter or nanny? This sucks.

Not having the ENTIRE application completed can be a real pain. They would not let me turn it in until I had 3 emergency contacts listed. I already had myself, wife, mother, sister listed but NO they needed one more person. What was the purpose of that 3rd person
when one of the four of us will get my son from school no questions about it. Needless to say I got that third person if I wanted my son in extended day and not on the wait list. So do whatever you can to make things happen for you. Some schools also have recreation after school which I don't think costs at all. That may be an option for you.

I also wanted to add, what is up with their website? The have certain pages updated when the others are not. They are still showing information from previous years. I called to inform them but no changes have been made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not having the ENTIRE application completed can be a real pain. They would not let me turn it in until I had 3 emergency contacts listed. I already had myself, wife, mother, sister listed but NO they needed one more person. What was the purpose of that 3rd person
when one of the four of us will get my son from school no questions about it. Needless to say I got that third person if I wanted my son in extended day and not on the wait list. So do whatever you can to make things happen for you. Some schools also have recreation after school which I don't think costs at all. That may be an option for you.

I also wanted to add, what is up with their website? The have certain pages updated when the others are not. They are still showing information from previous years. I called to inform them but no changes have been made.

i dunno why it bothers you that much to have three contacts. if you're so confident you wouldn't need the third person just use anybody you know and you don't even have to tell him/her.

i also find they're very responsive to emails. usually the same day, and no longer than 24-hrs.

[Anonymous]

OP here - after I got the initial response from the Extended Day office I wrote back with some of my concerns and asked that they be directed to (and answered by) a manager.

I got a very prompt and nice and informative response from the program Director who I must say did quell some of my concerns. He said everyone dreads the idea of a wait list but that in most cases there is a maximum wait of a couple weeks and in some cases no wait at all.

We talked specifically about the school my daughter would be attending and he said that based on past experience we would have less of a problem getting her into the program quickly than we might at some other facilities.

I still wish I'd been able to sign her up and have that in place but I am a bit more comfortable with letting it ride until my situation is more clear. On the plus side, I've had a couple job interviews, so maybe something will materialize soon...

[Anonymous]

On the plus side - the program is really good.

Trust me: you will need more than the three contacts you list at some point in elementary school - that's why its an emergency contact. By mid kindergarden, you will have listed a friend or two in addition, in all likelihood. Things go wrong, and the staff can't leave until your child is fetched. I must have eight people who can take my kid (and I return the favor). Due to random metro issues, rain, sleet, water main breaks in the school... it isn't so bad for them to have a reasonably long list of people who can step up for you.