Afterschool Program in North Berkeley for 3rd grader

My 3rd grader is not liking the after school program at his school. I heard about a program in Live Oak Park called ''A World of Peace''. The site looks great and it appears BUSD will transport kids there. But I don't know anyone who goes there. Can anyone tell me about the program (its strengths and weaknesses)? Thanks. -Working Mom looking for good after school program

In contrast, when I pick up my son at A World of Peace I'm likely to find him playing a game of spoons with kids ranging from K to 5th grade and they're all having a blast. Often there's a game of wall ball in progress with a line of kids waiting their turn. If conflicts arise between kids, AWOP's director Karen Cagan gets involved. Karen knows how to listen to kids, how to talk to kids, and how to get kids to talk to each other. AWOP goes far beyond after school care. The program teaches kids how to play cooperatively and resolve conflict, and I really value this. Berkeley parent

How can I get clear information about after school programs?

I'm a single mom with full-time job and a prospective kindergartener. I am looking carefully at Washington and Oxford, both of which are in our zone and look great, but where and how can I get a clear picture of the afterschool programming? Is Berkeley LEARNS the main site? When kids take the bus to different afterschool locations, how does that work? I read the most recent posting about Washington merging its programs, but where can I get a bead on how these programs work for a kindergartener who will be wiped out by 1:30? Is it possible that Private School could be cheaper than care for a school day ending at 1:30?

If you need before school care (a decided possibility if the school doesn't start until 9 or later), it's an additional $200 EACH MONTH. Even if you pay less on the sliding scale due to having a lower income, you will pay extra if you need both before and after school care. [You can also opt for the 2 or 3 day per week schedule, which brings the cost down]

Nepotism in our after-school program

Our Berkeley public school after-school program underwent an upheaval last year. We had to pay twice what we paid before and initially didn't see much change. The start was rough: not only was it financially difficult, but a beloved staff member was fired, we had to enroll twice, etc. We were told that the higher fees were to pay for kids whose parents could afford nothing (not sure what those kids did before). We were told part way through that we'd have everything from photography to cooking to a sports program that would actually try to encourage girls. Some of the staff were highly professional and creative, and some were so-so; others: parents wondered how they got the job or they saw such unprofessional behavior, they decided not to put their kids in the program. Well, this summer I learned that one employee of the new program is the girlfriend of the principal's son and that another one is the roommate of the principal's son. Nice enough people, I guess. However, this info shed a new light on certain aspects of the program (lack of info, professionalism, leadership, financial transparency, and communication). I thought these problems were due to an inability to hire the best professionals. Now it looks like the incompetency you get with nepotistic hires.

My questions to BPNers: 1.Who is the head of your afterschool program? Is it the principal? 2.Are your afterschool coordinators/employees dating, related to, or living with anyone related to the head of the program? Would it make you question the qualifications of the employees, if they were? What would you do if you found out that they were? What would you do, if the principal of the school was also the head of the after-school program and hired his/her friends and relations? 3. An RFP put out this year to look for an "employer of record" stated that the program must retain the existing non-unionized staff -- including the girlfriend and roommate(s) of the principal's son. The only respondent to this RFP was the current "employer of record:" B.A.C.R., which is accused of inappropriately siphoning money to SFUSD employees. The NY Times article can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/us/28bcschool.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&ref=sanfranciscobayarea.

We have been told that we must keep BACR this year, as well as the current staff, or else we will have no program. (The typical way our principal operates: fear mongering) Why does our school have to make such a choice when other Berkeley schools, presumably, do not? Or is your program in the same situation?
-I would be ashamed if I engaged in such hiring practices

If you have concerns about problems at your kid's school's after-school program; and you have already discussed them with the program director, and you are still concerned; then you could write a letter describing your concerns about the program's effectiveness, and about every other specific concern you have, and send it to elected and appointed folks at your school and at the district and you can even send a copy to the press, if you'd like. You can put on the letter all the names of people you are sending it to. It is important to get you concerns down in writing and sent to folks who make decisions in the district. In that way your specific concerns will be known by people in charge, and everyone will know that others have the same information. I don't know what regulatory authority would deal with such issues, but you can find out and copy them on the letter if you would like to. anonymous

Why does extended day care cost more at late-start schools?

This is not so much a request for advice as a hope for clarification/peace on a somewhat annoying issue. Our daughter was placed at BAM as an entering kindergarten student. BAM has a late start--9:10--and since she's a kindergartener she'll be done at 2:25. Like many others, we are unable to fit our work hours around such a schedule. She will be in the before and after school programs, and we will pay the full amount for both as we have the income necessary. After adjusting my expectations a bit (I had hoped the transition from preschool would leave us a with a bit more pocket change), I was getting my mind around the cost, until it struck me that children at early start schools do not have the same amount of expense for child care as those at late start schools do.

Basically, as I understand it, all the after school care through LEARNS costs $415 a month at most, no matter when it starts. But the students at early start schools can arrive at school at 8 (more of a possibility for most working parents) and thus skip the additional $200 a month for before-school care.

Is there anyone in the community who can correct me? Am I missing something? I'm not really asking for advice so much as seeking to understand and calm myself around this issue--it seems like a striking inequity which is hard to accept in the middle of BUSD's otherwise very thoughtful and progressive system. Semi-disgruntled BUSD parent

It will get a little worse for you next year when your kid is in first grade and you realize you are paying $415 a month for just 3 hours of care afterschool while early start kids get 4 hours of care for the same price (and you still get to pay $200 a month extra to drop your kid at 7:30AM and it's free to early start parents). Also, since it's only 3 hours afterschool late start schools don't get all the same activities. Some early start schools go swimming on Wednesdays, but there isn't enough time to do that with the late start kids.

I sent an email about this to my school principal a few years ago and she promised to ask the district aftercare folks about it. I never heard back.

Since it looks like only four of the eleven elementary schools are late start -- why not just switch all the schools to 8:00? Or allow us to drop our kids off at 8:00 for free since we pay more for a shorter afternoon care? It seems like there should be some solution that would make it a little easier for parents. Guess it's time to write to the district again. Sarah

That said, BUSD school assignment is not a passive procedure. People who participate in the lottery can use a school's start time as a criterion for ranking schools. We did. (In the Central Zone, Washington is the big school with an early start time.) BUSD has a second lottery and a waiting list for more chances at getting the school of your choice. It still may not be too late to switch schools by getting on a waiting list--our son got into Cragmont 2 days before school started.

Our daughter is going into 4th grade at BAM. It's a wonderful school and I hope your family enjoys its time there if you stay. Francesca

My question was: am I correct in understanding that parents at different Berkeley schools pay a different amount of money for child care because of the arbitrary start and end time differential?

One person responded that it might ''seem unfair to pay a bit more per hour at late start schools'' but that this was balanced by the fact that kids at early start schools have to stay longer hours after school.

In fact, the difference between people needing full time care at early and late start schools is $615 a month rather than $415 a month. That is not ''a bit more.'' That's a LOT more!

Another person wrote to say that we have choice in Berkeley schools and therefore should not mind if we pay extra for child care at one school or another. I have two feelings about that: 1) since Berkeley has a lottery system, our 'choice' is actually very limited. BAM was our third choice in the zone. 2) I can't believe, with all the thought that has gone into the BUSD system and the attempts to make all the schools excellent, that administrators would want parents to choose their schools based on start time (it's not as if the schools choose the different start times for pedagogical reasons).

So, my next question is: given that the system is inequitable (as I now believe I was right in understanding initially, based on the responses here and from other BUSD parents to whom I've spoken), how should I address it? To whom should such concerns be directed? New BAM parent

James Kenney Park after school program

Anyone send their kids to the James Kenney after school program in Berkeley? The archives are from several years ago. How do you like it? It's such a bargain compared to the after school program at my kids' elementary school and I'm tempted to save myself several hundred dollars a month... but only if it's a good, fun, safe program. Any comments would be appreciated! Berkeley parent

Afterschool program for beginning student

What after-school program do you recommend in the Berkeley area? Looking for comprehensive programs (2pm-5:30p or 6pm), not short classes. Our child will start in the BUSD this fall. We are most interesting in programs with a blend of homework support, free play, and enrichment activities led by quality staff in an organized way. new elementary school parent

Coverage for BUSD days off

wow, BUSD sure takes a lot of time off! My spouse & I have used up a lot of our vacation time covering in-service days and holidays that the workplace doesn't recognize (eg, MLK day, Veteran's day and the day before veteran's day, the Wed before thanksgiving, the Fri before President's and Memorial days, Malcolm X day etc. Are there any mini-camps in Berkeley for those sorts of single days off? This is becoming a true hardship for us. Thank you, --our employers are getting annoyed

We often willshare a full or half day with one or two families and the kids have a great play date day, and we take off less time. It is very workable, with a bit of planning. And is nice to schedule a 3 day weekend get away when no one else does. Anon

This was a problem for us, too, but now that the kids are older sometimes we just bring them to work with a book. been there

Looking for after-school care in N. Berkeley

Hi all! I recently moved to North Berkeley and my 5 year old daughter will be joining me in 3 weeks to begin Kindergarten. Berkeley Unified can't tell me which school she'll be enrolled in until she's physically here, so I'm in limbo in regards to after care and there's the possibility her school's after care will be full. Any suggestions? Thank you in advance!! Angela

Not so much at New School-there's no homework support and the afterschool supervision of the kids is pretty lax (tho that is not the case with the actual daycare). My kids grades soared after a transfer out of NS into the BAM program.

The JCC is right down the street and is excellent as well and the newer program at Live Oak park has a good rep too tho i dont know that much about it.

BAM & the JCC are more $ than NS but you get what you pay for! -anon

General Info about Berkeley After School Programs

All of the Berkeley elementary schools offer various after-school programs for grades K- 5. Some of them are offered on-site at the school, for others the kids are bussed to another location. I found it a bit confusing trying to sort through all the options. Ultimately, we enrolled our five-year-old in "Kids Club," an after-school program run by the Berkeley-Albany YMCA, but offered on-site at the school she will be attending. It's not necessarily cheap. I think it ends up being about $550/month for kindergartners (the most expensive group, because they only go to school 1/2 day, so there are more hours of after-school care). However, we signed up months ago for "Kids Club." I'm not sure if there is still space available. I would think the Berkeley Unified School District Office would be able to tell you about options available at the particular school your child will be going to. Colleen