SUMMARY

• In the article, we discuss what goes into developing a good partnership between a school and a program like ours. The goal is to get to the point where, after years of working together, the afterschool program is able to easily anticipate what the partner school will need. But from the get-go, it is crucial to cater to the needs of every school the afterschool program works with.
• As PTA president Jennifer Eng says, all schools have their own quirks in terms of how they operate, so there’s a bit of a learning curve when first establishing a relationship between a school and an afterschool program. You have to consider the concerns of parents, the goals the PTAs and schools have for the program and the differing academic, social and physical needs of the kids to be served by the program.
• The ability to offer a broad range of programs and courses in an afterschool program makes it easier to provide schools and PTAs with exactly what they’re looking for. These programs can be anything from Lego architecture to hip hop dancing.

INSIGHT

There’s a reason Flex Academies has a 96 percent retention rate—it works extremely well with all of its partner schools to provide afterschool programs that are highly enriching and align with the missions and goals of its partner schools and PTAs. We’ve developed a process that undeniably works, and we’re proud of the relationships we’ve built with schools in the area.

It is our hope that more schools continue to see the benefits of afterschool programs and the kind of impact they can have on the lives of students of all ages and backgrounds.