Starting and managing after school enrichment clubs can feel like a big undertaking...and that's because it is! At FunClubs, we've created this helpful step-by-step guide to assist you start and oversee enrichment clubs at your school.
Whether you're a Parent Volunteer coordinating clubs, a School Administrator, or an After-School staff member, it's our mission to provide you with helpful solutions to make after school enrichment simple, streamlined, and as stress-free as possible.
Taking on a project and leadership role this big can feel daunting and it's easy for important details to slip through the cracks. It's our goal to help you feel confident as you move forward and effective as you serve students and families in your community.
Follow along with our 8-Step approach to successfully start and manage after school enrichment clubs at your school! Let’s get started!
Effectively managing after-school enrichment at your school will be a team effort! Administration, After-School Staff, and Parent Volunteers will all be involved at some point, so it’s a great idea to invite all three into the planning process! The more people you can gather together to discuss everything at once, the better. This helps reduce back-and-forth emailing, miscommunication, and ensures the process will go much more smoothly.
Start by scheduling a meeting to identify your school’s enrichment needs, preferences, and goals. Think about who needs to be in attendance at this meeting:
Once you have your planning meeting on the calendar, begin making a list of discussion topics. Some important things to consider include:
Now that you and your team have a plan in place, it’s time to create and curate an enrichment catalog that will be attractive to parents and fun for students! There are two main factors to consider when putting together an enrichment catalog. First, 'how many' clubs will help meet the need and interest level at your school? Second, 'what types' of clubs might connect best with kids while still ensuring an overall balance of themes?
How many clubs will you plan to offer each day and throughout the week? Providing too many clubs could lead to classes not filling up and providers who are unable to return because they didn’t reach their minimum registration. On the other hand, not scheduling enough clubs can lead to classes with long waiting lists that create disappointed students and parents who are frustrated by the overall process.
In our experience, we have found at most schools that 3-4 clubs a day is a good amount to keep students, parents, and providers all engaged!
Having a balance of class themes can make or break your after school enrichment program. It’s important to think about what kinds of clubs would interest students as well as what clubs would be attractive to parents. There are a few different categories of enrichment programs you’ll want to include in your enrichment catalog:
At FunClubs, we have the privilege to work with over 40 different program providers who offer a wide range of club themes that educate, enrich, and consistently delight students and their families!
After bringing together your team, crafting a strategic plan, and considering what clubs will best serve your school community, now it's time to seek out and find the right providers! You'll need to carve out some time to research clubs in your area, reach out and meet with each program provider individually, and be prepared to share your expectations, scheduling needs, and any school district requirements such as facility use agreements, insurance policies, and background checks for instructors.
There are several things to consider when establishing new relationships with enrichment clubs for your school. Most items to check off your list are clear-cut practical or legal requirements, but some may be more subjective and touch on the 'culture and values' of your school and even your own communication style.
Now that you've identified the program providers you want to work with and begun the onboarding process, you will want to clearly communicate your school’s After School Procedures with them. Having Standard Operating Procedures will ensure that your program providers, school staff, parent volunteers, and students all know exactly what is expected and how all of the transitions and dismissals will flow each afternoon!
The end of the day at most schools can be stressful. Making sure that 500-1000 children all get to the right place at the right time is a big job and requires consistent processes and prompt communication between the front office, classroom teachers, after-school staff, and parents.
It's important that everyone involved with enrichment clubs (providers, their instructors, and parent volunteers) all understand that they're jumping onto a train that's already in motion!
Making this transition as smooth and stress-free as possible requires setting clear expectations and procedures for the following:
Great job getting to Step 5! You've gathered a team, made a plan, chosen and onboarded providers, and established clear procedures. Now it's time to make sure all of your super-fun and enriching clubs fill up! Getting the word out to families at your school is a crucial step to developing a thriving after school enrichment program. In the next section we'll go over some tried and true methods to build excitement for clubs and promote sign-ups.
Promoting registration is important for two main reasons. First, you want to make sure parents are aware of the amazing enrichment opportunities you and your team have worked so hard to make available for their children, and second, you want to make sure that classes are profitable.
Student participation is the clearest sign of success, but the profitability of clubs will also play a role in determining the return of program providers, as well as how much your School, PTA, or Foundation may receive in fundraising dollars.
Here are some things to keep in mind as you design your marketing plan:
In this day and age, many of us are doing most of our shopping online and we increasingly expect the 'user experience' of each website or app we use to be quick, intuitive, and easy to navigate. Bringing your enrichment club registration online places the process where parents are comfortable shopping, adding convenience and consistency to their experience, while ensuring a secure way to process payments and collect student roster data.
Check in with your providers to see what program or process they currently use to register students and receive payments. You can have individual clubs take care of their own registration, or you can integrate registration onto one platform for a more streamlined experience for parents.
If you do choose to integrate your registration process, be prepared to allocate enough time to gather all of the necessary information from providers, set up the registration forms, and test and trouble-shooting the system (or you could reach out to FunClubs, we'd love to help!).
Integrating all clubs onto one registration platform is ideal because it creates a:
What should a good online registration platform provide?
If you love the look of a well-structured spreadsheet, this part is for you! Bringing together all of your student rosters onto one unified report will serve you and your team throughout the semester. Giving the Front Office, After-School Staff, and Parent Volunteers quick access to real-time data, all in a standardized format, will make everyone's lives easier, limit the number of last minute questions, and ultimately, help ensure student safety.
Reliable, real-time, and easily accessible roster data is essential to ensure that every child is where they should be at the end of the school day as students transition to their enrichment clubs. Late rosters, missing contact information, or out-of-date student lists, can all create lapses in child security. The daily check-in procedure relies heavily upon up-to-date and accurate information that's in a format everyone can quickly understand.
Creating unified student roster reports for your program will include these steps:
Consistent and clear communication with parents leading up to and throughout the semester will play a big part in keeping your after school enrichment program running smoothly! Parents want to be in-the-know, and it’s your team’s responsibility to keep them informed and up-to-date during the registration process, before the first day of classes, and by providing helpful schedule reminders during the semester.
No one likes to miss an important announcement or invitation, especially when it's for their child! Take time to craft a comprehensive communication plan that considers what questions parents might have before registration opens, during the sign-up process, and throughout the enrichment club semester.
Getting out in front with your communication will help build trust and make parents feel 'in the loop'. Sharing frequent updates and timely reminders during the session will serve to head off any issues and answer questions before they land in your inbox.
Two main categories that your communication plan should include are:
The word 'automation' might sound a little impersonal at first, but the entire goal of automation is to think about your parents in advance and consider everything they might want to know and the best way (and time) to get that message out to them.
As hard as you and your team have worked on developing the perfect after school enrichment program, not everything will always go to plan. And when things go 'off-script' they usually have a cascading impact on several different groups.
In these moments, it's helpful to think through a few things in advance:
We hope this 8-Step guide to starting and overseeing after school enrichment clubs has been a valuable tool for you and your team! If we can be of any further assistance, please let us know. We'd love to help support you and your enrichment program grow as you serve more children and families in your school community!
