Whether you are just starting an after school program or you have been running one for some time, you have likely spent a fair amount of time thinking about how best to organize your schedule. You need to consider both the timing of your after school program as well as the organization of your program day-to-day.
Luckily for you, the team at Sawyer are experts on building and maintaining efficient and successful after school program schedules. Our software helps children’s activity businesses, nonprofits, and schools run efficiently so that they can spend more time working with children and sharing their passions.
In this article, we will go over the best ways to manage your after school program schedule on Sawyer and include a downloadable schedule template that you can utilize for your programming.
There are a few different types of after school programs and they accomplish different goals. The times you choose for your programming should depend on the type of after school program that you are building. The main goal is to schedule your programming in convenient times that are easily accessible for families.
Some parents are looking for Monday through Friday programming that goes from the end of the school day until the work day ends. This type of program is often called after care. It usually includes time for homework help, outdoor or open play, enrichment activities, and free time.
If you want to offer after care programming, we recommend that you make connections directly with schools so you can provide pickup and drop off options to families. This makes life much easier for working parents and gives your after school program additional value when they are choosing where to enroll their child.
Alternatively, you can create after school programming that is more specific. If you run a children's dance studio or you teach kids soccer, as examples, you can create after school activities that last 30 minutes to 2 hours that relate to your business. The length of your activity as well as the start time should relate to the age of your students. According to the 2021 Sawyer Children’s Activity Trend Report, 3:30pm is the most popular activity start time for children in elementary school and 4-5pm is the most popular for middle and high school aged students.
Whether you are running a 3 hour after care after school program or a 30 minute music class for kindergarten and first grade little ones, you need to plan a schedule for each day. The first step towards building a successful schedule is developing your after school program curriculum. When you begin planning your curriculum, you should think about the goals you are hoping your students will accomplish.
When you know your goals, then you can start to develop your lesson plans and the activities that will comprise the lessons. The length of your program’s sessions can determine the depth to which you plan your lessons and schedule. You can use and adapt this template to fit your needs.
This template would work best for an after care style after school program.
Then, you should break up the activity section into a full lesson plan so that you stay organized and on track. Here are some ideas for activities:
Download our after school program schedule template to adapt for your own use this year!
