Afterschool Programs Overview

Love. Learn. Success. (LLS) programs are designed to encourage safe, nurturing and educationally enriching alternatives for students in the after school hours. LLS Programs are closely aligned with the core values, academic goals and high quality standards of the regular day school program.  This is accomplished through collaboration with the school principal, teachers, staff, faculty and parents in order to better align curriculum and standards to meet school wide expectations.  The variety of academic, enrichment, and recreation classes give students opportunities to enhance vital reading and math abilities, develop critical thinking and life skills, and discover interests and talents that motivate and inspire a lifelong love for learning.  They also allow students to partake in activities focusing on fine arts, music and physical fitness.

LLS Program Schedule:
The LLS program schedule is designed to accomplish the following goals:

  1. Provideclearandsimpleroutinesforstudentsandstaff
  2. Provideflexibilityinthetypesofacademic,enrichmentandrecreationactivitiesoffered
  3. Providetheprincipalandacademicliaison(ifappointed)theopportunitytoprovideadditional

    academic support to targeted students

  4. Prepare 1st-8th grade students for a middle school & high school class schedule
  5. Exposesstudentsuptofourdifferentenrichment/recreationactivitiesperweek

Although the LLS program schedule is designed to provide flexibility and a variety of experiences for students, this is only possible by very clear limitations.

All classes are offered one or two days per week:

• Monday/Wednesday
• Tuesday/Thursday
• Wednesday/Friday

🩵Academic Support:

In collaboration with the Academic Liaison or the Principal, LLS programs train instructors to provide an academic hour that supports students’ academic needs. The academic hour is divided into three parts:

  • 15 min – Building Intentional Communities
  • 20 min – Socioemotional Activities / Academic Skill Building
  • 20 min – Homework Support/Silent Sustain Reading

LLS program is not a homework completion program. Academic hour is intentionally scheduled so that there is insufficient time to complete homework. With an assumption that teachers assign daily homework that consists of 30 minutes of independent reading and 30 minutes of homework worksheets, all students will have at least 15 minutes of reading and/or homework to complete at their home.

LLS students are expected to complete all homework assignments at home. In addition, LLS parents are expected to provide a space at home for students to complete their daily homework assignments. These expectations will prevent families from becoming too dependent on afterschool support. LLS strives to create a strong partnership with regular school day staff and parents in order to support the whole child. Working together, LLS students will be prepared to succeed in middle school and high school.

For students needing more personalized and small group intervention, LLS will work with the school principal and academic liaison to recruit teachers to work with targeted students during after school hours. These classes are “required academic classes” and all students selected must attend.

🩵 Enrichment/Recreation Classes:

Every student deserves to experience and participate in a wide variety of extracurricular activities. Most families would choose to enroll their children into classes such as sports leagues, ballet, karate, music, art, dance, theater and many others if they had the resources to do so. The main reason for many families not participating in these types of activities is the cost of these types of services. It is the goal of LLS to offer high quality extracurricular activities during the after school hours.

LLS develops afterschool instructors that offer a variety of quality enrichment and recreation classes. Staff develops unit plans and daily lesson plans for each class. LLS works with each instructor to create these plans that culminate at a student showcase 3 times a year. LLS also partners with artists, athletes, and other individuals to provide more specialized and focused activities such as karate, chorus, and art.

🩵 Policies:

All policies enforced at LLS programs are created to:

  • create a safe and positive learning environment
  • maintain the integrity of classes offered
  • reinforce the value of learning occurring during afterschool hours
  • establish and foster the relationship between day school and afterschool programscreate an understanding that LLS programs are not babysitting services, but rather a space where students continue to learn.

LLS Policies Include:

  • Discipline Policy
  • Attendance Policy
  • Late Pick-Up Policy
  • Early Pick-Up Policy

 

LLS Site Coordinator will keep track of this information and communicate with teachers, parents, and the principal when necessary.

Parent Involvement:

Parents are expected to participate in a variety of ways throughout the school year. During the parent orientation at the beginning of the school year, parents are informed about how they are expected to participate:

  • Provide a quiet homework space at home
  • Provide a dish for a community potluck at Student Showcases (if necessary)
  • Respect and follow all program policies

In order for students to succeed, it is vital for parents to play a positive role in their child’s educational success. LLS programs provide simple ways for them to accomplish this goal. In return, we promise to provide students with high quality academic support and learning experiences in a safe environment.