PPS Aftercare: Quality & Availability

It's a fact for many of us.  There's school, then there's aftercare.  For some, the idea of two different programs in one day can seem unsettling and of course tough to arrange.  I have been so focused on the school piece that the after-care has sort of fallen off my radar.  Turns out this is not a good idea since, uh, you might get wait listed.  At your own school.  Then what?  Sure, you might get off the wait list in time (August!?!), but a whole summer of nail-biting doesn't sound very fun.  Nor does a load of effort and money to pre-arrange an alternative, only to cancel it if you get off the wait list. 

Then there's the quality issue.  Since the after-care is on-site, it seems we should just go with the on-site aftercare - like it or not.  At our neighborhood school, the aftercare program is in a trailer with no windows or bathroom.  Not exactly my fave school setting.   And, to complicate matters, there are a number of different providers across PPS (13 to be exact), ranging from the Mittleman Jewish Community Center to the SUN Program to Peninsula Children's Center.  Having only visited my own windowless program, I've no idea if the quality is comparable.  Something tells me it's not.

So what do you do?  Wait on the wait list?  Arrange an alternative?  Accept the on-site program regardless?  Shop around?  What did YOU do?  This mama needs tips.  Or just to commiserate, perhaps, with some other wait listed nail-biters out there. 

Comments

[Sheryl]

My daughter attends Glencoe Elementary, which has on-site aftercare. For reasons that have NOTHING to do with that program, I have had her go off-site, to Belmont Academy (www.belmontacademy.org), which we love, love, love. They drop off in the morning (if you need before school care) and pick up from school in the afternoon (Glencoe and 4 others); they also have school break and summer care. I can't say enough good things about the Belmont folks--we've been there 6 years.

One disadvantage--and really the only one I've experienced--to off-site aftercare is the fact that my daughter cannot attend afterschool extracurriculars at Glencoe.

So if the on-site provider isn't a good fit, look to off-site care that provides transportation.

[elizabeth]

Sheryl - thanks for the post. I am waitlisted at Sabin. I was not impressed with their aftercare program. If there are other Sabin parents who have good experiences I would love to hear from them.

I recently tried to sign my son up for 1x a week aftercare at the onsite care at Sabin for Fall.

I was told I needed to commit (or at least pay) for 3x a week which Iam ok with. But they wont know the availability until August. Which seems really late to me in terms of having our schedule & care set up confirmed for September Kindergarten.

What other options have people found that worked for their families?

I will looks and see if their is offsite care that can pick up.

Any families in NE that have good luck with nannies or nanny shares?

I work 8:30-5;00 in Vancouver so I am not available to PU at 3 and run to another site.

Sheryl- thanks again for your post. I'd love to hear from some other mamas/papas about what works.

[Emily]

Have you looked into the SUN program at Sabin? I believe there are two sessions per day: 3:30-4:30 and 4:30-5:30, and sounds like the SUN people shepherd the kids from their classroom to the SUN room for a snack, etc, before the SUN activity begins. One problem, though, is that SUN doesn't take place every day that school is in session--starts a week or two after school starts, etc, and doesn't happen on fridays, i think. But if you have a little flexibility and only need care 1 day/wk, it might work out. Good luck!

[Erica]

I have a pre-k and kindergartner starting in the fall. Our Pre-K daughter will get out of school at 11:00 am. The Nanny will pick her up from school, take her home and have lunch and nap. At 3:00 the nanny, with my youngest, will go and pick up my kindergartner after school on the days that she is not involved in the sun program. We plan to pay her $10 per hour. The price ends up being slightly cheaper than afterschool for the kindergartner and full day childcare for the preschooler. This is the plan, I cross my fingers that it is successful!!!!

[hau]

Our son's school in the fall is served by the YMCA. I thought I had missed the deadline to apply, but when I called, they have not even come out with the registration information. Anyone with a kid(s) in the YMCA beforeschool / afterschool program?

We are looking into a program since we need reliable care for those random in-service days which could put working parents in a pickle. There's not much time off between the sick and vacation days to account for those additional early dismissal and in-service days during the school year. How are parents dealing with this, especially those with single parent households?

[ProtestMama]

YMCA school site-based child care quality varies from site to site. Their staff is not paid very well so turnover rates are high. I have had awesome staff and staff that shouldn't have been left in charge of a goldfish. I always made sure that I wrote letters about the staff that went above and beyond. They often didn't get that good feedback.

This was 3-4 years ago, and in general YMCA is awesome for so many other things it does with kids. So check it out.

[elizabeth]

Emily- Thanks very much I spoke with some of the Sabin PTA folks and I think the Sun School sounds like a good option. Wish me luck!

[Eric Schafer]

My wife and I recently decided that Ainsworth's Aftercare program is not going to work for our family. Would any parents who are in the same situation and located around SW Portland be interested in a part-time nanny share? We live near Council Crest. Or could you give us any advice or leads on securing aftercare for our kindergartner? Thank you in advance.