Anonymous wrote:Former Afterschool (we don't like the term aftercare-denotes babysitting and we were leaning towards more of an extended-day program) Coordinator here:

Often times the afterschool program was treated like an after thought by many DCPS principals. There was always an undercurrent of tension between the principals and the coordinators because, up until this school year, the coordinators could not be fired or rif'ed by principals. Only central office had the power to remove a coordinator. This did not go over well. Often coordinators and, by extension, the program was viewed as a necessary nuisance by school administration.

Resources: Save for the first year under Hartsock, the Out of School Time budget for DCPS afterschool was ALWAYS a problem. Often I had to recruit parent/high school student volunteers because I was not able to get enough hired staff to accommodate the number of students who signed up. It seemed like the mantra was "do the most with the least". Also, some principals would "reserve" afterschool positions for their favorite staff whether they were a good teacher/aide or not.

Age Range: This situation may vary from school to school, but my honest opinion (having supervised programs and monitored others) is that I would not recommend afterschool for any student under the age of 7. The day is tooooo long. Trust me. It is. These children are burned out. It's too many children for such little staff. It may be different for schools that offer non-profit/private afterschool services. At my school, we came up with creative, fun ways to keep the students engaged but sometimes it was an uphill battle. No one in Pre-K/Pre-S should be in afterschool IMHO. I can remember being in a classroom with my aide and we would spend half the afterschool session rocking frustrated, crying pre-schoolers. This happened ALOT. It became draining because I had 100+ other students to supervise in addition to other administrative duties.

Anonymous wrote:Couple thoughts-

You have never yelled at your kid? Either you or your kid is a saint. Can't say most of us have not had a cross moment

Most staff that works for aftercare programs- make crap wages, even if those of us that pay for the programs struggle. Try living in DC on less than $20 or 30 thousand a year. You might feel a bit cross about life also.

Sometimes you need to yell to get through to a kid that is ignoring you. Hate to say it, but there are times it is necessary. Yes I know there is a cultural difference between upper class my poor child/ lower class deal with it attitudes in DC, but a little empathy both ways may be a good idea.

Anonymous wrote:Why so flip, PP? The point others have made is that there are higher SES families at DCPS schools with high FRMS percentages who are willing to pay more for quality care and programming. But the FRMS kids can't afford that. So what to do? Set up two systems? One quality one for parents able to pay and one that's crap with short fused screamers as the caregiver? I seem to recall threads about this sort of double, have/have not system at Oyster? Anyway, not an palatable plan to most with any sense of fairness. Ten dollars or no, we should not tolerate children being treated terribly.

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, long standing problem all right. My kids left DCPS after 6th, and many years ago I was part of all hopeful discussions with the new chancellor & co. One of their requested top priorities was addressing the critical hours between 3 and 6 pm. Nada.

It's obvious you have spent little time in DCPS. This is a long-standing problem. These teachers/aides think this is how they are supposed to do their job and woe be to you, you uppity outsider, to say anything to them. I have put my children in DCPS, but I never put them in the aftercare programs.

Anonymous wrote:Couple thoughts-

You have never yelled at your kid? Either you or your kid is a saint. Can't say most of us have not had a cross moment

Most staff that works for aftercare programs- make crap wages, even if those of us that pay for the programs struggle. Try living in DC on less than $20 or 30 thousand a year. You might feel a bit cross about life also.

Sometimes you need to yell to get through to a kid that is ignoring you. Hate to say it, but there are times it is necessary. Yes I know there is a cultural difference between upper class my poor child/ lower class deal with it attitudes in DC, but a little empathy both ways may be a good idea.