To start any community after-school program, you must have the proper funds. There are a number of federal and state funding sources that support after-school programs, such as the grant available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Another, although less popular funding option, involves collaborating on a program with another organization in your community. Working with someone else will mean that your own costs are reduced, but the philosophical and administrative differences between sources can hinder this approach.
To run a community after-school program, be sure that you are following the proper state regulations. In most states you will have to apply for and be granted a license before you can start a program of this kind. The application process will usually involve demonstrating that the program's environment is safe and that you have the proper authority to begin an after-school program. Each state has different regulations, so check with your state's education department for the most up-to-date details.
Before you begin your community after-school program decide what type of activities you'd like to include. These choices will be partially dependent on the facilities you have (for example, if you can facilitate basketball games), but they will also be dependent on what type of educational content you'd like to include. Would you like to focus on helping kids with reading skills? If so, you will have to incorporate reading activities into the program, such as the reading budding system that has students and community mentors reading to one another.
A quality community after-school programs requires thorough evaluations so that you know the strengths and weaknesses of your programming. Addressing the program's weaknesses will cause your program to improve and your participants' experience to improve. The best way to evaluate your program is to use an independent body, such as a quality rating and improvement system ( QRIS). These independent evaluators assess each aspect of community programming and assign a rating based on a set of defined standards.