Pathfinder Afterschool Program

Next meeting of the After School Program Steering Committee

2008-10-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

I am hoping it will work for a few folks to meet to talk about the After School Program next Monday at 4:45. The items I am aware of that need to be on the agenda are:

1) Lessons learned and changes to be made for next session (starting in January) especially registration.
2) A review of the current program (what classes worked what classes haven’t)
3) A financial review of the program
4) Getting into place an evaluation process which gathers feedback from students, parents and the instructors
5) Preliminary planning for next sessions classes – especially looking at areas for expansion
6) Making the AS program long term sustainable
7) Doing a better job of parent volunteer recruiting and management
8) Documentation

If this works for at least a few folks, we will meet at my house at the corner of 49th and Alaska (4557 49th). Children are welcome. I anticipate the meeting being about an hour. If you cant make it, feel free to send me thoughts, or post them for everyone on our blog
http://pathfinderafterschoolprogram.blogspot.com/

Please RSVP to me.

2008-09-14T05:27:00.000-07:00

The afterschool program is about to get its launch! Yippee!

I could use your help in looking over the documents we are planning to send home and see if you have any concerns or questions about them. I am hoping to get the information about Lou’s class on Monday and have these go out early in the week, so if you do have comments/concerns/questions, please let me know ASAP.

In the good news department, the PTSA board has recommended funding the afterschool program for $2000 to help get us off the ground. The proposal will be taken to the general meeting coming up next week for approval. Also, the Seattle Parks Department has awarded Pathfinder a substantial grant (over $10,000!) to support 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade participation. As a result we will not be charging for these grade’s participation in the program.

I hope that you will contribute any concerns, questions, ideas, etc. to me and the rest of us via email or the blog: http://pathfinderafterschoolprogram.blogspot.com/

Pathfinder PTSA After-School Program
Fall 2008 Classes

Unless otherwise noted, classes are 8 weeks long and meet once a week from the week of October 6 to the Week of December 1. No classes will be held the week of Thanksgiving. Classes with insufficient enrollment will be canceled. For classes that have more requests than space, those who get registration in before Sept 19^th will be given priority. All participants are required to meet in the cafeteria by 3:20 and will be offered a snack.

Magic! Grades 6-7-8
Teacher: Mark Pentecost
Maximum students: 14
Learn to perform magic tricks and illusions. Amaze friends and family with sleight-of-hand, mind reading, and doing the impossible.
Meets Tuesdays 3:30-4:30
Class fee: Free / Materials: Free

Math Club/Study Skills Grades 6-7-8
Teacher: Mark Pentecost
Maximum students: 14
Play math games, get help with your math homework, have fun!
Meets Thursdays 3:30-4:30
Class fee: Free / Materials: Free

Art Studio Grades 4-5-6-7-8
Teacher: Nicole Penoncello
Maximum Students: 15
In this open studio time students will be able to work on their own art projects. You can choose your own medium and style! There will be a show at the end of the class!
Meets Tuesdays 3:30-4:30
Class Fee: For 6, 7, 8th grades: Free
For 4th and 5th grades: $30
Materials Fee: $25

Jump Rope Grades 2-3-4-5-6
Teacher: ????
Come learn to do tricks, practice your double-unders, do double-dutch!
Meets: ????
Class Fee: $???
Materials Fee: Free

Poetry Club/Team Grades 5-6-7-8
Teacher: Lucy Simpson
Calling all middle-school and adult poets to join the Pathfinder poetry team. We will read poems, so bring your favorite poets to share for the first few meetings. We will write poems, revise them and work on performing them - making them sing. This class will be a democracy in many ways.
Meets Wednesdays 3:30-4:30
Class and Materials Fee: Free

Beginning Mandarin Grades K-1-2
Teacher: Chia Chia Wang
Here is a wonderful opportunity for your child to learn a language that 1/5^th of world’s population speaks! We will be learning Mandarin Chinese through singing songs, movements, playing games, drawing and crafting. Parents are welcome to stay in the class to learn Chinese along with their child. The instructor, Ms. Wang, is a native speaker who has taught language immersion class in elementary schools. This is her second year teaching the after school Chinese class at Pathfinder. Appropriate for students with no previous study of Mandarin. No snack will be provided for students in this class. Class fee discount for volunteer work and scholarships are not available for this class at this time.
Meets Wednesday 4:25-5:10
Class Fee: $80
Materials Fee: Free

Intermediate Mandarin Grades 2-3-4-5
Teacher: Chia Chia Wang
Here is a wonderful opportunity for your child to learn a language that 1/5^th of world’s population speaks! We will be learning Mandarin Chinese through singing songs, movements, playing games, drawing and crafting. Parents are welcome to stay in the class to learn Chinese along with their child. The instructor, Ms. Wang, is a native speaker who has taught language immersion class in elementary schools. This is her second year teaching the after school Chinese class at Pathfinder. Class fee discount for volunteer work and scholarships are not available for this class at this time.
Prerequisite: 1-2 years of Mandarin
Meets Wednesday 3:30-4:20
Class Fee: $90
Materials Fee: Free

Pathfinder PTSA After-School Program

Registration Form
(Forms and payment received by Friday, Sept 19^th will receive priority registration)

Student Name: ___________________________Grade: ____ Clan: ______ School _____________________

Address: ________________________________________________ Home Phone: _________________________

Parent/Guardian Name: ___________________________Work Phone: _____________ Cell Phone: ____________

Emergency Contact: ___________________________________________ Phone: __________________________

Student Allergies? _____________________________________ Parent E-Mail: ____________________________

The following people are authorized to pick-up my child: They will be asked for picture ID.

______________________________ ________________________________ ____________________________

Choice # (indicate first and second choice if applicable)	Day	Course Name	Class Fee	Materials Fee

Notes/Comments:________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Total Class Fees: ____

Total Materials Fee: _____

Enrollment Fee: _____ ($5 for PTSA members, $10 for non-PTSA members - 1 time registration fee per session)

Total Due: _______

______I need financial assistance. Full and partial scholarships available!
reduced lunch. Please email lclayton@seattleschools.org if you have any questions.

_____ I can pay $_____ I have enclosed a check for that amount.

_____I would like to volunteer, I’m able to do check in/check out for my child’s class, help with snack, do registration, or something else. We will need at least one parent per class. Please email e_ebaer@earthlink.net if you would like to help. Volunteers will receive 50% class fee discount.

Make checks payable to Pathfinder PTSA & submit with registration form

After Class, my child will be:

_____Picked up by: ____________________________ phone : _____________________

_____Going to Blazing Trails

_____My child will be riding the after school activity bus home. The address is _________________________________________
This option is only available to 4,5,6,7 and 8th graders due to funding conditions.

Please initial each of the following and sign at the bottom:

_____I give my permission for _____________________________________ to participate in Pathfinder after school activities. I
give my permission for the adult(s) in charge to seek emergency medical treatment and/or transportation for my child.
By signing below, I hereby agree to release the Pathfinder PTSA, its volunteers, and class instructors from any and all
responsibility of any nature, including claims for injury, illness, death, loss, or damage resulting from participation in
the Pathfinder PTSA After School Program.

______Children who participate in Pathfinder after school activities are held to the same behavioral standards as during regular school hours.

_____I understand that if my child is not going to attend a class he/she is enrolled in, I will contact the Pathfinder office by phone before 3:00 or have to pay a $5 search fee. If for any reason you are late in picking up your child (after 4:30 PM), a late fee of $5 will be assessed for every five minutes after the end of class. If you know you are going to be late, please call us to let us know how late you might expect
to be. This helps us organize staff schedules and reassures your child. A child’s enrollment could be terminated should the child be picked-up late on three separate occasions in one year regardless of the reasons for the late pick-up.

________________________________________ __________________________
Signature of Parent/Guardian Date

Pathfinder PTSA After School Program Questions and Answers

How are fees decided?
Fees are decided by the teacher with additional factors such as snack and program costs included.

Why are some classes free?
Classes for 6th, 7th and 8th graders are supported from a substantial grant by the Parks Department Out of School Time Program.

Why is transportation only available to older children?
Transportation for 6th, 7th and 8th graders are supported from a substantial grant by the Seattle Parks Department Out of School Time Program.

Can I suggest a class?
Absolutely! Feel free to email comments or suggestions to e_ebaer@earthlink.net or lclayton@seattleschools.org or leave comments on the Afterschool program's blog http://pathfinderafterschoolprogram.blogspot.com/

What happens if more kids want to register for a class than the class capacity?
Those who submit their registration information by September 19th will be given priority. After that, registration will be on a first come, first served, basis. If more kids enroll by the priority date than can be accommodated, we will randomly pick students for the class and do our best to accommodate those who do not get their first choice with a second choice option.

Preliminary list of classes for the Pathfinder after school program

2008-09-09T08:18:00.000-07:00

Lisa has been busy recruiting and here are our current list of classes and teachers

Beginning Mandarin – Chia Chia Wang
Intermediate Mandarin – Chia Chia Wang
Jump Rope Team – Lou has someone (I am not sure who)
Art Club/Open Studio – Nicole
Chess – Mark Pentecost
Math Skills – Mark Pentecost
Poetry Club – Lucy Simpson

I am working on nailing down the rest of the information (like when, how much, etc.) and to hear back from Lisa about how we can work with OST (the parks program for older students). I hope we can have something out to parents by the end of this very, very busy week!

News on a former Pathfinder Afterschool Program

2008-08-23T16:46:00.000-07:00

A news article on a former Pathfinder after school program...
Seattle Junior Derby brats relish hard knocks

Results from the first planning meeting

2008-08-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

Several of us got together on Thursday and discussed the Pathfinder Afterschool program. Here are some notes from the meeting.

For those that did not attend, I know I would be particularly interested in input on 1) the number of classes and choice of classes, 2) the fees, 3) how to manage keeping track of registration, attendance, $$, etc.

Some notes on the meeting of the ASPSC – reconstructed after the fact by Eric, so they may not be complete.

Attending: Lisa C., David D, Eric B, Lashanna W, Jenn K

Currently, the parks department funds some after school activities, but only for older kids. This does include transport. However, it is not available for younger students. Our program will be complimentary to this program. Historically we had a large afterschool program with SoundSchools, but this became defunct. The idea originated to try to bring schools together to be strengthened.

David contributed that it was important for him that some of the programs be academically supportive, such as reading or math.

In order to match what is done with the current parks funded program, we will make our classes typically 8 weeks long, one hour, and start the first week of February. After some discussion, we decided to try to have 6 classes this fall – 3 for the older kids and funded through the parks department, and three that we put together.

Space will be an issue. We may have some use of the library, culture house, the gym, and the cafeteria, but this will have to be worked out with BT who have used these areas a lot.

We are considering the following, depending on working out space and instruction:
Unicycle, Double Dutch, Mandarin, 1 or 2 art classes, a technology class, and/or another miscellaneous class. In the next round we would like to see a science class, perhaps chess, and some other classes so as to keep the classes interesting.

It seems like it would be good to provide a small snack for participants – hopefully fruit from the district and/or some protein.

Probably we should charge a registration fee of ~$5, a class fee and a separate materials fee, to be determined by the instructor. There was a suggestion to have a PTSA member rate and a non-member rate.

Eric proposed that we try to use Pathfinder teachers as we can because they can use their own rooms, and will be very dependable.

The group thought it important to make scholarships available. Eric will request that PTSA help support these as well as using a small amount of money for class fees and registration. In addition, we will have some volunteer positions that will earn free class credit. Requests for scholarship will go directly to Lisa Clayton to maintain privacy.

We discussed a significant late pick up fee and search fee, equivalent to BT.
This program needs to be brought under the auspices of the PTSA and their insurance policy.
For communication, since the Blog is not being widely used, Lashanna and Jenn suggested using Google groups

First Meeting of the Pathfinder School Afterschool Program Steering Group

2008-08-20T11:05:00.001-07:00

We will meet Thursday at 4 p.m. at Eric's house.
Our agenda:

Classes, schedule, and perhaps instructors
Tuition/Fees
Administration
Enrollment
How will we handle some basic logistical things

I expect the meeting to take a little more than an hour and children are welcome.

When to meet?

2008-08-15T12:05:00.000-07:00

I have 4 proposed times for us to meet. I will chose the one with the greatest number of “I can"s. I know not everyone will be able to make it, that is fine – there will be ample ways for everyone to contribute including leaving comments on the blog.

Choices for times are:

Tuesday August 19^th at 7p
Thursday August 21^st at 10a
Thursday August 21 at 4p
Saturday August 24^th at 10a

We will meet at my house, which is a block from school.

Open Forum

2008-08-03T23:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a place for you to put other comments.

How should we handle requests for financial support?

2008-08-03T23:33:00.001-07:00

Should we request that the PTSA is requested to support scholarships? Should we include a certain amount of money for scholarships in everyone's fees? Should we request voluntary contributions to a scholarship fund? Should we only offer scholarships to those who help with the program?

What classes would you like to see?

2008-08-03T23:25:00.000-07:00

When we decide what classes we are going to offer, especially at first, we need to take into account lots of things. What are the most important considerations? Which are less important?

Offering classes that parents have said they want in greater numbers?
Offering a class/activity that works well within the schools curriculum (i.e. offering music since there won't be separate music instruction next year at PF)?
Offering classes that match the school's mission? (e.g. Native studies, whole-child education)
Offering classes that individuals really want and are able to commit to doing the hard work to make them happen?

I am not really looking for answers about which classes we should offer, but more how we should pick which ones we should offer....