Afterschool Answers

Check-in is a critical part of the afterschool program day.  It is your first chance to welcome students into the program and provide some relief from what may have been a stressful school day.  Unfortunately, it is very easy to overlook the importance of check-in time.  When students arrive are your group leaders rushing around getting snack ready or collecting supplies for the day?  If they are you need to train them to do things a little differently.  Here are some simple changes you can make to your check-in to completely change that first impression for the afternoon.

Arrive early

Schedule your staff to arrive at least 15 minutes before the students arrive.  Make sure they have enough time to collect their supplies, organize their clipboard, prepare their table and prepare snack.  Everything that needs to be ready, should be completely ready when students arrive.

Greet Students

Are your group leaders standing at their table or assigned area when students arrive?  They should be.  Train your group leaders to greet each child individually, using their name, when they first arrive.  They need to strike up a little bit of conversation with students and ask about their day.  Really devote some time to making students feel special when they get to your afterschool program.

Give Down Time

Just as adults want to relax for a few minutes when they get home before starting on dinner or chores, students want to relax, too.  Give about 10 minutes for students to just sit and chat when they arrive to the program before you start making any announcements or sending groups off to their assigned activities.

Giving students time to relax and creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere for them when they arrive will help make your afterschool program something that students look forward to.  This can boost your attendance and reduce behavior problems because you have created a calm friendly environment where students want to be.

Camille Diaz Logistics check-in, Logistics, Scheduling, staff training

Thanks for your great ideas on hiring, it’s very helpful. What I would like to hear about is how to keep staff after you’ve hired them, and how to help them stay interested, involved and keep their energy high for the program?

The key to retaining staff and keeping them happy is building a community.  Here are some suggestions on how to begin.

Teambuilding Activities

Find a way to turn your staff into a team.  No, not by doing “teambuilding” exercises from a book, but by consistently doing things together that everyone enjoys.  In one of my entry level jobs, all five people in our office would have lunch together almost everyday.  It gave us a chance to talk and get to know each other.  Over time, that camaraderie translated to our work.  If one person was trying to finish a project, another would ask if they could help so everyone could leave on time.  Find something fun you and your staff can do together on a regular basis.

Provide Useful Training

Most of your group leaders are not planning Read more…

Camille Diaz Staffing leadership, staff retention, staff training