In August, Magnolia ISD introduced two new after-school initiatives to kick off the 2016-17 school year.
After School Adventures is a program open to MISD students in K-fifth grade. After School Programs Director Stephanie Saker said the program offers way for students have fun while still taking advantage of downtime after school to continue learning.
“One of the biggest things that is very important is that kids have strong after-school time, and the district is wanting to raise the bar when it comes to the quality of after-school programs and enhance our students’ time outside of school,” Saker said.
After students are dismissed for the day, participants in the program remain at their campuses until 6:30 p.m. and are given a healthy snack and time to work on homework before moving to daily activities, such as improving literacy; science, technology, engineering and math-focused lessons; and physical activities, Saker said.
The After School Adventures Program and Enrichment Program is opened to all elementary school students in Magnolia ISD.[/caption]“The main delivery method for everything we do is fun,” she said. “So although they’re engaged in learning activities, everything is hands-on and fun.”
Saker said the program has about 175 participants so far in the 2016-17 school year but anticipates more students will enroll as the program continues. Costs for the program range from $90-$275 per child per month, with options for holidays and professional development days when students would be out of school.
In addition to the After School Adventures, MISD also began offering Enrichment Adventures, a six-week program to provide extracurricular activities to students twice a week.
“Each campus will have a variety of enrichment courses that will be available to parents to register their kiddos,” Saker said. “Basically, that could range from martial arts to robotics to gardening to any type of enrichment program that we can find specifically for their campus.”
Enrichment Adventures also takes place on-site immediately after school.
“Convenience is huge on this one,” she said. “Instead of having to pick them up from school and take them to martial arts,[the program is] right at the school.”
Saker said the district’s new programs will provide an educational alternative for students who would typically watch TV after school.
“When a child is provided with quality outside-of-school time—whether that’s during the summer or school year—statistics do show results,” she said. “Their grades, their performance in school and their attendance increase, so they all correlate.”
