After School Enrichment
The Chief Schools Office welcomes you to the School District of Philadelphia After School Enrichment webpage!
Whether you are a school leader, staff member, family member or vendor, you play a critical role in this effort and we are so glad you are choosing to be a part of it.
Research shows that after school enrichment programs help maintain and advance students’ academic, emotional and social growth. An after school program that incorporates compelling and stimulating experiences, combined with co-curricular opportunities including arts and athletics, is a proven way to engage students and support their well-rounded education.
In order to ensure a safe, meaningful and collaborative effort, this webpage contains critical information pertaining to all after school enrichment programming in the School District of Philadelphia.
As part of the District’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and through the use of American Rescue Plan Act Emergency Relief Funds (ARP ESSER), the District is accelerating its work to improve student academic outcomes and make progress toward the Board’s Goals and Guardrails by expanding access to after school enrichment programs, and training and resources for staff-led enrichment programs that are integrated into the school experience.
The after school enrichment program targets the Board of Education Board Guardrail 2, which states that “Every student will have a well-rounded education with co-curricular opportunities, including arts and athletics, integrated into the school experience”.
Specifically, after school enrichment programs provide:
- Robust opportunities for youth to explore their interests and creativity.
- Age-appropriate programming that is hands-on and aligned with educational standards.
- Learning environments that support social and emotional learning.
- Emphasis on youth choice, engagement, and making learning fun.
Vendors were selected based on their ability to demonstrate a research-based approach, organizational experience and qualifications, evidence of program efficacy, and ability to scale program capacity.
After School Enrichment Vendors provide in-person, after school enrichment programming from dismissal through 6pm during the school week. Programs are run by vendor employed staff members.
Interested schools will be prioritized and matched with vendors based on interest, capacity, location, student population, as well as data from the school census, the Office of Strategic Partnerships, and after school meals. To express interest in partnering with one or more of our vendors, please fill out THIS interest form.
Vendors that support SDP staff-led after school enrichment programming provide training, technical assistance, curriculum, and supplies to District staff who are dedicated to facilitating after school enrichment programming over the course of the school year.
School staff interested in leading an after school enrichment program in collaboration with a one of the qualified vendors should:
- Provide the application materials outlined on the job opportunity posting to their Principal.
- Ask the Principal to complete the SDP staff-led ASE Principal approval form.
- After the Principal completes the form, follow the instructions for registration of programming for the identified vendor on the SDP staff-led vendors list below.
School-Based After School Enrichment Coordinators will fill out the food services Google form and upload the student roster on this webpage to ensure after school enrichment food services are available to students. Submit forms at least 3 days before the start of program implementation.
The Coordinator will pick up the refrigerated pre-packaged meals from the school cafeteria each day. These meals must remain refrigerated until serving time. The coordinator will record meal counts at the point of service using a roster, clicker or tally sheet and ensure that students receive all meal components.
The Coordinator will provide the daily attendance and meal counts to the Cafeteria Manager at the beginning of the next day.
Please reach out to foodsetup@philasd.org with any questions.
As part of the contract agreement, vendors leading programming must develop a school-specific collaboration plan with each school they partner with (not applicable to staff training vendors). The plan is an opportunity for school staff and vendors to establish a shared program vision, systems and procedures, and clarify vendor and school expectations. The collaboration plan document can be found HERE.
*note: SDP-staff led programs do not require a collaboration plan
Vendors must submit facilities requests for all spaces that will be used in a school, using the District’s Facilitron system. Registering these requests allow facilities to ensure adequate staff are available such as, building engineers, cleaning staff, etc. Once spaces, start and end times have been established by the school and vendor (using the collaboration plan), vendors should submit requests. Facilitron can be accessed HERE.
Please follow the mandatory grants compliance protocols below:
- Vendor led programming
- Vendors will need to complete the School-Specific Collaboration Plan prior to the start of after school programming
- Schools and vendors will use the COS Vendor Led Teacher-Student Attendance Log
- Save completed attendance logs in the vendor specific digital vendor folders and hard copies in a manila folder for collection
- Vendors will complete the attendance counts document in the digital vendor specific folder each week
- Vendors will complete attendance logs and counts to avoid delay in invoice processing.
- Staff Training Programming
After School Enrichment Vendor Invoicing Process
- Invoicing occurs on a monthly basis based on student attendance counts and additional direct/indirect costs.
- Upload invoices to digital vendor folder.
- Email afterschoolenrichment@philasd.org, notifying the ASE team that an invoice has been submitted. Indicate the PO number at the top of the invoice and ensure that the number of students and associated costs are clear.
An example can be found HERE
Staff Training Vendor Invoicing Process
- Invoicing occurs on a monthly basis.
- Divide any annual support costs (i.e. technical assistance) into monthly installments.
- Material costs can be billed in full at the point of distribution.
- Training should be billed using a per training cost at the time training occurs.
- Bill startup costs during the first month of invoicing.
- Upload invoices to digital vendor folder.
- Email afterschoolenrichment@philasd.org, notifying the ASE team that an invoice has been submitted. Indicate the PO number at the top of the invoice.
An example can be found HERE
For more in depth instructions please follow THIS guide.
A school will identify a School-Based After School Enrichment Coordinator to act as a liaison to the vendor organization and school staff, as well as facilitate all necessary paperwork.
Principals will use the approved Job Opportunity to solicit interest and select a candidate(s) from their school community. A 1-pager that outlines Coordinator responsibilities can be found here.
Schools may recruit 1-3 candidates for the Coordinator role, who can serve in the position on different days of the week. Only one individual per day should fill this role. This cannot be the same individual that is coordinating paperwork under ARPA learning support (i.e. employees cannot be paid for two roles at the same time). To learn more about ARPA Funding and After School Enrichment click HERE.
School-Based After School Enrichment Coordinators must complete THIS form daily to track sign-in/out time for payment.
Staff Attendance for Staff Led After School Enrichment:
- During Trainings (In Person): Staff will sign in and out using the approved teacher attendance log each day training occurs. Save scan of completed logs and a daily agenda in the vendor specific google folder as “[Vendor Name]_Training Attendance_[Date]”. Vendor delivers hard copies of logs to the School District Central Office.
- During Trainings (Virtual): Staff will fill out this Attendance Log after the end time of each session. Vendors will save each day’s Zoom reports and ensure it includes staff member SDP email addresses, time-in and time-out. Save Zoom reports and corresponding agendas in the vendor specific folder.
- During Program Implementation: Record daily attendance using the COS ARPA ASE Teacher-Student EC Attendance Log that corresponds to the group of students being led. Save scanned copies of logs with the title “[School Name]_Attendance Log_[Date]” and upload to the “Staff Led Clubs Attendance Folder” by the staff member. Hard copies of logs should be saved by club leader each week for collection by COS staff.
Staff Attendance for Staff Supporting Vendor Led Programming:
- School Based Coordinators: Complete THIS form daily to track sign in/out time.
- Behavioral Support Liaisons: Fill out the employee sign-in and sign-out line on the COS Vendor Led Teacher-Student Attendance Log for the group of students supported. School-Based Coordinator will upload logs each week to the vendor attendance folder. Save hard copies of attendance logs in a manila folder for collection.
All vendor staff members working within a school building must have the following clearances:
- PA Child Abuse History Clearance
- PA State Criminal Record Check
- FBI Background Check with Fingerprinting
- Completed Act 126 training certificate
All Information about the vendor clearance process can be found HERE.
Student Attendance during Vendor Led Programming:
- Record student attendance each day using the COS Vendor Led Teacher-Student Attendance Log (mandatory).
- Student name, ID and grade should be pre-populated into the form.
- Students just need to provide their signature and record their “time in”.
- Save a scan of the completed logs with the title “[School Name-Vendor]_ Attendance Log_[Date]”.
- Leave Section A blank.
- The School-based coordinator will upload attendance logs each week to the vendor’s attendance folder.
- Email afterschoolenrichment@philasd.org to gain access to the vendor folder if you do not already have it.
- Save hard copy student attendance sheets in a manila folder for collection.
Student Attendance during Staff Clubs (by staff trained by approved vendor):
- Record student attendance each day using the COS ARPA ASE Teacher-Student EC Attendance Log(mandatory).
- Student name, ID and grade should be pre-populated into the form.
- Students just need to provide their signature and record their “time in”.
- Save a scan of the completed logs with the title “[School Name-Staff Name]_ Attendance Log_[Date]”.
- Leave Section A blank.
- The staff member will upload attendance logs each week to the “Staff Led Clubs Attendance Folder” .
- Email afterschoolenrichment@philasd.org to gain access to the folder if you do not already have it.
- Save hard copy student attendance sheets in a manila folder for collection.
Families have three options for After School Enrichment:
Vendor Led Programs at school sites typically run from the end of the school day to 6pm each day school occurs. They are led by outside vendors.
Examples Include:
- STEAM programming run by Steam Works Studio
- Martial Arts run by Zhang Sah
- College Clubs run by Philadelphia Education Fund
Staff Run Clubs at School Sites typically run for 2 hours at the end of the school day 1-2 days per week. These clubs are run by a staff member at the school.
Examples Include:
- Step team led by physical education teacher
- Robotics Club led by science teacher
- Debate led by assistant principal
Timing and days of Neighborhood Based Programming varies by program. These programs are run at a community based site by neighborhood organizations. Typically, transportation from school to the program site is provided by the organization. Students from multiple schools may attend.
Examples Include:
- Writing Workshops at Mighty Writers Locations
- Sports Leagues at local Recreation Centers
- Enrichment Activities at YMCA
*For a stepper on how to use the City of Philadelphia Out of School Time Locator, click HERE
After School Enrichment Team
Lisa Gambino, Director, After School Enrichment, Chief of Schools Office
Karen Kolsky, Deputy Chief, Operations, Chief of Schools Office
ASE Program Coordinators:
Bianca Lajara Rosado, Catherine Collazos, Daje Walker, Mikhi Woods, Tiffany Chalmus, Tushita Agrawal
Grants Point of Contact:
Nate Diehl, Grants Compliance Monitor
ASE Interns:
Syeda Kalim
For questions or additional information please reach out to afterschoolenrichment@philasd.org
Last modified: January 27, 2023