After-School Enrichment Programs: A Principal’s Planning Guide for Winter and Spring
After-school enrichment programs are the classes that run on campus after dismissal and are taught by someone other than the school: LEGO engineering, robotics, coding, chess, art, a language. Good ones extend the school day with something kids choose. Bad ones create a second job for the front office. I led elementary schools for a decade, and I have now sat on the other side of the table for three years running programs at 75+ schools and community sites, so this guide is written from both chairs. If you are a principal, an office manager or a PTA enrichment chair planning for winter and spring, here is how to do it without the second job.
When to decide, if you want a January start
Winter terms start in January and spring terms in late March or April, and the decision has to happen earlier than most schools think. Families need two to three weeks to see a flyer and register, the provider needs a week or two before that to match an instructor and build the schedule around your dismissal time, and your newsletter has a deadline of its own. Work backwards and the math is simple.
| If you want classes to start | Say yes and name the room by | Flyer goes home by | Registration closes about |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second week of January | Week of November 9 | December 1 | One week before the first class |
| First week of April | Week of February 8 | March 1 | One week before the first class |
Late starts are common in the first month of a term, so a school that misses these dates is not out of luck. The room and the day are the only things that truly have to be settled early, because they drive everything else.
The five decisions every school actually has to make
When I was a principal, an enrichment vendor's pitch always sounded like ten decisions. It is five. Here they are, and I have marked which ones should take you less than a minute.
1. Which room, which day. One classroom, cafeteria or library for about an hour after dismissal, with tables. That is the whole space requirement, and it is the decision that unlocks everything else. Under a minute.
2. Who handles the money. This is the one to be firm about. Your office should never collect a check, hold a roster of who paid or field a refund request. Families should register and pay online directly with the provider. At Journey to STEAM that happens through enrops, the registration system we use, and the school handles no money and no forms. If a provider asks your office or your PTA to collect payment, that is a vendor asking you to run their business.
3. What it costs the school. Nothing, in our model. Families pay per term. Some schools ask for a small facility fee and we work with that, and some partners choose to fund seats for their families instead. Either way, the answer to "what does this cost the school" should be a clear sentence, not a conversation.
4. What happens for families who cannot pay. Insist on an answer. Ours is need-based scholarships from the Journey to STEAM Scholarship Fund in every program, plus PTA-funded or partner-funded seats when a school wants to cover families directly. No child is turned away because of finances. An enrichment lineup that only the top third of your families can afford is not an enrichment lineup; it is a visible line down the middle of your school.
5. What you require from the vendor. This is the decision that deserves your full attention, and it is the next section.
What to require from any enrichment vendor
I would not let a program into a building I led without the following six things in writing. None of them are unusual. All of them are skipped more often than you would think.
- A certificate of insurance naming your school or district, with general liability that includes abuse and molestation coverage. Ask for it before the first class, not after.
- Background checks completed before employment, with criminal history screening, reference checks and credential verification. Ask what percentage of applicants they hire. Ours is fewer than 10%.
- Training completed before the first class in child protection, mandatory reporting, emergency response and first aid, with annual refreshers. Every adult in your building after hours should be a mandatory reporter and know it.
- A pickup process you can describe. Authorized adults only, checked against a roster, with written permission required for walk-home. Your office will get the call if this goes wrong, so make sure it cannot.
- Attendance you can see. Digital attendance recorded every session, every site, and a recap after the term. If a family or a board member asks who was in the building on a Tuesday in February, the answer should take one click.
- A named person who answers the phone. Not a ticket system. For our schools that person is our program manager, reachable by email and at (503) 506-3287, and a former principal above her who understands what your office is dealing with.
What "the office forwards one flyer" means in practice
The promise we make to schools is that your office forwards one flyer and shares the registration link once in the newsletter, and everything else is ours. Here is what "everything else" includes, so you can hold us and anyone else to it. We match an instructor to your dismissal time and build the schedule. We send print and digital flyers in English and Spanish with a direct registration link. Families register online, get an immediate confirmation and reminders before day one. Our instructor is in the building 15 minutes early, checks kids in from the roster, runs the class, takes headcounts at every transition, and releases kids only to authorized adults. We bring every material and leave the room the way we found it. After the term, you get a recap.
Glory Okeke, the principal at Sunnyside Elementary, put it this way: "Journey to STEAM met a great need in our school community! The students who participated were excited to have an outlet to continue to tap into the creative aspects of their personalities." What she did not have to say is that her office ran none of it. That is the point.
A note for PTA enrichment chairs
Everything above applies to you, with one addition: protect your volunteers. A PTA-run enrichment program that asks parents to collect checks, staff a sign-in table and chase a vendor for refunds burns out the very people who make a PTA work. When a PTA sends our link, classes fill and waitlists are common, and the PTA never touches money unless it chooses to fund seats, in which case we invoice the PTA directly. We also send a ready-to-share flyer, newsletter blurb and social post every term, in English and Spanish, so your job is one message. More on how that works on our PTA and PTO page.
Frequently asked questions
What does my office have to do to host an after-school enrichment program?
Forward one flyer, share the registration link once, and tell us which room and which day. Registration, payments, reminders, rosters, supplies and instructors are handled by Journey to STEAM.
What does it cost the school?
Nothing. Families pay online per term. Some schools ask for a small facility fee and we work with that; some partners fund seats for families instead. The office never handles money.
How are instructors screened and trained?
Background checked with reference and credential verification before employment, then trained in child protection, mandatory reporting, emergency response and first aid before the first class, with annual refreshers. Fewer than 10% of applicants are hired.
Do you provide proof of insurance?
Yes. A certificate of insurance naming your school or district, with general liability that includes abuse and molestation coverage, on request.
When can a program start?
At the beginning of each term (fall, winter, spring), and late starts are common in the first month. Tell us your timing.
How do families who cannot pay participate?
Through need-based scholarships from the Journey to STEAM Scholarship Fund, or through seats funded by the PTA, the school or a sponsor. No child is turned away because of finances.
A well-run enrichment program should make a principal's life easier and a kid's Tuesday better. If it is doing anything else, it is the wrong program.
With Grace and Gratitude,
Dr. Arielle Hammond, Ed.D.
Ready for the next step?
Dr. Arielle Hammond, Ed.D. is a former school principal and the founder of Journey to STEAM, the Portland metro's principal-founded STEAM enrichment program: LEGO engineering, robotics and coding for ages 3 to 12 at 75+ schools and community sites across four counties. Teach For America alum, principal at 24, Ed.D. from Lewis & Clark. More about Arielle and the team.
