So far, we have talked about management practices, overarching program design and goals, youth development principles and practices, and partnerships. Keeping in mind the decisions made so far, it is finally time to think about planning how you and your team will structure your program. Depending on your funding sources, goals, space, and target population, the amount of freedom and flexibility you have in terms of scheduling and content will vary. Nevertheless, you will have to make certain decisions about the structure of the daily program to optimize youth experiences. Consider whether you will have registration periods throughout the year or only at the beginning of the year or whether the program calendar will follow the school calendar or use another format (e.g., weekly or monthly). Will you offer multiple sessions per year or a summer program? What days of the week will programs run and for how many hours? Do youth have to participate every day the program is in session or can they pick and choose? Will the program have a unifying theme? If so, what is it? What types of program activities will you offer and how you will identify and integrate youth development practices into your program? Will homework time be a required part of your program? Will we provide snacks? When? What are the protocols for program start and departure and transportation to and from the program? Can youth come and go freely or are the start and end times concrete? Will we offer special events (e.g., field trips, theater outings, or holiday parties)? If so, is there a purpose for the trips?
As you answer these questions, your daily and weekly schedule will begin to take shape. Use Tool 13: Program Schedule to keep track of all program offerings, including days, times, locations, staffing, and additional information. Tool 13 provides a sample schedule, as well as a blank form, to plan your program’s actual schedule. We recommend making two kinds of program schedules. The first schedule is an internal program schedule for staff members and program partners. This is the “working schedule” that includes all the daily operations of the program, including details of running the program (e.g., staffing, getting supplies, preparing space, transitions, and food). The other schedule is an external program schedule that shows weekly and daily program activities. Post the external schedule publicly and share broadly with families and community members.
Probably the single biggest difference we see between higher quality afterschool and expanded learning programs and those that struggle is whether they have included appropriate activity planning time for staff. Even when there is a full-time program leader planning activities, staff members working directly with youth must have enough time to stop and think about how the activity will flow, how they should be working with young people in their program, and how they can improve their practices. It is much easier to do this at the outset of creating your program, but such planning can be implemented regardless of how long your program has been in operation. You may feel no time in the day or funds in the budget are available to support staff planning time that is separate from the time they spend delivering instruction, but it is worth the effort to find time and funding. An extra 30 minutes a day or one hour a week can make a difference and is not a huge financial burden. Planning time builds stronger, more confident staff members who buy in to the activities and have a better understanding of young people’s interests, needs, and strengths.
What strategies can be used to incorporate staff planning time into the routine of your program? The following are our suggestions but use your creativity to develop others. (1) Host an annual retreat to plan for the year. The retreat doesn’t have to be someplace fancy but try to have it outside of the program space, perhaps in a park or a local coffee shop. Use this time to develop an overall plan for the year (e.g., enrollment periods, vendors, monthly schedules, and culminating events). (2) With staff members and partners, take one day out per month to plan for the following month. This is big-picture planning (themes, field trips, family events). (3) Use every Friday (or any day of the week that makes sense; Fridays are a popular day off for programs) for weekly staff planning time. Vary the format; allow a different staff member to lead each week. If possible, make one Friday a month a potluck or other community-building activity. Invite (but do not require) contract staff members and volunteers to attend so they feel as if they are part of the planning process. (4) Use or add an extra 20 minutes at the beginning of the program time to allow staff members to get ready for the program that day. This brief time before the program should not be used to plan for the day (which should take place during your weekly planning) but to prepare supplies and space and make any slight modifications to the plan already in place. (5) If you cannot add time to the beginning or end of the day, find some time during the program to meet. If you use contract staff members for activities, meet with individual staff members during this brief break to go over the plan for the week and make any necessary adjustments.
These are just some practices to get you started. Try one (or a few!) of these strategies in your program and modify them as needed based on your unique circumstances. You can be creative and flexible about planning as long as you allow adequate time and a variety of opportunities to plan the overall program, as well as the day-to-day operations.