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. . . . . are contrary to popular belief.
- Email trees work better than meetings!
Calling a meeting for parents and other individuals who are interested in starting an after school program is not the most efficient use of your valuable time. Parents who need these special services are really busy and do not come to PTA meetings.
- Fee based programs increase parent involvement.
Most programs that are free and staffed by volunteers or high school students do not provide the academic outcomes you need. Parents tend to treat free programs as free babysitting and will not value or respect your program. A sliding fee scale is fair to all. The benefits to the community of a sliding fee scale are clearly evident from Homework Club's six years of success in the San Francisco Bay Area.
- After school needs are pretty straight forward.
You already know what is available now, and what your school needs, as do your principals, teachers, and counselors. Don't worry about complicated assessments - go with your common sense.
- Elected officials move slowly when allocating after school funds. Plan for a self-sustaining program. If other money comes through, so much the better!
- Long-term success requires financial sustainability and long-term professional staff retention. School leaders need to be careful not to create a program that dissolves as soon as the leader/entrepreneur leaves the school. Your program should not be personality dependent.
- Mail flyers and information home as attachments to your normal school newsletter. Using the classroom to distribute flyers and information about your after school program seems like an inexpensive and convenient way to disseminate information, but the flyers won't reach the families that need Homework Club the most! Make sure your school mails information to parents and augment mailers with your Email Tree.
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