Our before-school program offers a valuable service to families of children at the elementary school level. The program is held inside the EppingElementary School building, and it allows working parents to drop off their children early on all school days. Our staff provides casual homework help, board games, movies, gym activities, and an escort to the school’s healthy breakfast program. The families we serve appreciate the safe and comfortable environment that we provide during the before-school hours. In 2008, we moved this program’s opening time from 7 a.m. to 6:45 a.m. in response to parent demand. We expect to enroll an average of 25 children per day in this program over the coming school year.
After school, we offer both a middle school and an elementary school program, each with a variety of age-appropriate enrichment activities, as well as plenty of supervised free time for small group play and relaxation. Both programs are open from the time the school bell rings until 5:30 p.m. on all school days, and both include supervised pickup from all after-school clubs and activities held at the schools. This year we expect an average of 50 children per day to enroll in our after-school programs.
At our elementary after-school program, students enjoy afternoon snack, field games, gym time, educational games, homework help, computer time and reading time. Elementary enrichment blocks include cooking, yoga, Tai Kwan Do (additional fee), woodworking, French, German and art, all of which are led by members of our staff who enjoy sharing their hobbies, skills and knowledge with the children.
The middle school program operates on a schedule similar to that of the elementary school program, but with more flexibility and free social time. We begin with snack, which is prepared by the older students, and then offer staff-directed activities including sports, games, cooking, movies, girls’ club, boys’ club, knitting, woodworking, bike group, Tai Kwan Do (additional fee), homework time, computer lab, and nature walks. Our new 12-passenger minibus also allows us to offer short field trips to nearby attractions. Past trips have included a visit to local sawmills, where the woodworking group learned how lumber is made in their community.
