Seven Steps Toward Eliminating Chaos at Check-Out Time
When the end of the day comes and it is time for students to leave with their parents, does your orderly well structured afterschool program suddenly disintegrate into chaos? Even if your check-out time is orderly, you may be able to use some of these time honored and field tested methods to help make your check-out time even faster and smoother.
Keep reading all the way to the end because step number seven is the fastest, easiest, and most important.
1. Notify Parents that Change is Coming
After you work out exactly what your new check-out procedure will be, send home a flier to parents with a detailed explanation of what they should expect and what you would like them to do. Make announcements to students as well, reminding them of when the new check-out system will start. If you just spring the new check-out plan on everyone without coaching them first, even more chaos will ensue.
2. Close the Doors Until You Are Ready
Funnel your students in through one door and have parents start lining up outside of another closed door. Put up a sign and close that door 10-15 minutes before check-out begins so you don’t have parents coming into your meeting space and disrupting the last few minutes of your students activity time. When you are ready to begin check-out, open the check-out door.
3. Regroup Before Releasing Students
Call all of your student groups back to your main meeting space before you dismiss everyone. This will give you the opportunity to relay any last minute messages and you can make sure all your students are accounted for before parents start picking them off. Read more…
