Help, why do some after school programs sucks!

[Anonymous]

I am exited about the DCPS school my kids will be attending next school year but I can't say the same about their after care offering. It is expensive and NOT flexible at all.
You pay about $350 for aftercare for 5 days/week and about $100 for before care for 5 days/week. Drop off is about $50. This is managed by a private company/individual affiliated with our school only. My biggest problem is the lack of flexibility! for example I need aftercare just a few days/week, why there is zero option for that? Also I believe they could have an add-on option for extended hours to go till 630pm instead of making it the default option.

I noticed that lot schools in DC have decent aftercare with A LOT of flexibility. Look at Eaton, Hearst, Janney, Key, Mann etc (I started with the good schools lol, our school is pretty decent as well). Those schools provide different rates depending on the number of days parents need and they also provide a lot more options.

Anyway, as a parent I want to be engaged and I want to help make things better and not just complain. How do other schools do it to end up with tailored aftercare services? I feel like we are not getting our money worth with our current aftercare programs. How do I address this issue when school starts?


TIA

[Anonymous]

What's the school? It sounds like ours. People may have more insight if you name the school.

[Anonymous]

The fact that it is an independent entity doing it only at this school is probably why they don't want to do partial schedules -- this way they know the staffing schedule for everyone instead of trying to shuffle people around.

Why don't you call the school and ask to talk to the person who manages this contract and ask these questions? You can ask without complaining.

[Anonymous]

Because you get what you pay for. Mann is more than $500/month. Janney parents run the aftercare parents and thus keep overhead costs low. Also, Janney is able to tap into the AU student community and so can be more flexible in scaling up and down on a moment's notice.

[Anonymous]

We’re in Arlington and the prices, times are roughly the same. We won’t use it 5 days all the time, but the days we will use it are variable.

I look at it like this - they have a ton of kids and they need to make money by having the spots filled but also need to keep your kid safe and accounted for. As soon as you do flexible days, you will have countless entitled parents calling to switch Tuesdays to Wednesdays “just this once” and maybe there aren’t any spots on Wednesday because someone else does M/W/F. It’s like a recipe for losing a kid or being out of ratio. It also screws with the people who work that job taking care of your kids because they don’t have reliable hours.

Think of it like daycare. You don’t pay for the hours you actually use. You pay for the option to use the hours when needed.

[Anonymous]

The issue is probably that if they cannot foresee how many kids will be there, they cannot have the appropriate staff. Hiring the staff 'just in case' is expensive if it's not used. So, lack of flexibility --> certainty in staffing --> lower prices for everyone.

[Anonymous]

I really don't know-- we had Springboard and though they did kind of suck in various other ways, you could go part-time and drop-in with a day's notice.

It might be possible to negotiate a better deal with the vendor, if you want to step up and be the point person to do the work. If you aren't willing to put in the time, then don't complain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really don't know-- we had Springboard and though they did kind of suck in various other ways, you could go part-time and drop-in with a day's notice.

It might be possible to negotiate a better deal with the vendor, if you want to step up and be the point person to do the work. If you aren't willing to put in the time, then don't complain.

Springboard is a big corporation and has some economies of scale that this provider may not, enabling them to provider this option.

PP is right. You need to find out who manages the contract and ask whether they have considered asking the provider for a drop-in or more flexible option.

[Anonymous]

So you don't have a problem with the actual people and the way they care for the children? Then don't say they suck, OP.
The issue is that the aftercare is obligated to have a certain staff:student ratio. If you want more flexibility, ask the school and PTA (don't know who's responsible for this program) and request changes. Don't be shocked if they come back and say it's more expensive!

[Anonymous]

You haven't even started at this school yet.

Busting in and trying to change a plan that may well meet the needs of most of the parents is ... a little much.

Talk to the person in charge. Ask questions. Listen to the answers. Perhaps the things you want have been tried in the past and failed. Or perhaps the people in charge of the vendor will be willing to pursue changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's the school? It sounds like ours. People may have more insight if you name the school.

Just adding, if it is our school, it's a smaller school, and the one price structure seems to work for most families, who are largely dual-income WOH--I'm not sure there's enough demand for a PT aftercare option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You haven't even started at this school yet.

Busting in and trying to change a plan that may well meet the needs of most of the parents is ... a little much.

Talk to the person in charge. Ask questions. Listen to the answers. Perhaps the things you want have been tried in the past and failed. Or perhaps the people in charge of the vendor will be willing to pursue changes.

Providing extra services doesn't hurt the services they are already providing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You haven't even started at this school yet.

Busting in and trying to change a plan that may well meet the needs of most of the parents is ... a little much.

Talk to the person in charge. Ask questions. Listen to the answers. Perhaps the things you want have been tried in the past and failed. Or perhaps the people in charge of the vendor will be willing to pursue changes.

Providing extra services doesn't hurt the services they are already providing.

How do you know? It could well increase the prices for everyone.

[Anonymous]

So how does Eaton do it :
https://www.eatondc.org/aftercare---jeap.html

Or Janey:
https://www.janneyschool.org/janneyplus/jac/

Or
Key:
https://keyschooldc.org/dcps/key-school-extended-hours-program/

There is a lot of flexibility and the price is reasonable, sincerely curious how they do it. Mann is an exception here.
You might not need this option, but there is a demand for it and lot of schools do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So how does Eaton do it :
https://www.eatondc.org/aftercare---jeap.html

Or Janey:
https://www.janneyschool.org/janneyplus/jac/

Or
Key:
https://keyschooldc.org/dcps/key-school-extended-hours-program/

There is a lot of flexibility and the price is reasonable, sincerely curious how they do it. Mann is an exception here.
You might not need this option, but there is a demand for it and lot of schools do it.

All three are run by parents, so much lower overhead. Additionally, Janney taps into the AU student body so can add counselors easily to meet needs. At Key the waitlist is forever to get a spot -- so while it's flexible, it's not available.