FY22 School Year Planning Toolkit

As we enter the school year, several school districts will be executing plans to open and serve youth, families, and communities as safely as possible. There will be a tremendous need for afterschool and out-of-school time programs to be responsive to the changing needs of communities in order to continue to provide support for families and safety for youth. 

UAN is working to create and collect a number of resources to aid organizations in their ongoing efforts to adapt and plan for the school year. Please make sure to check back often as we'll be updating and adding tools regularly.

Location:

Depending on your district and the level of risk in your area, your organization may need to be prepared to rethink how space is utilized or plan to find alternative locations in the event that your need for space increases or space becomes unavailable to you.

Aligning with the School Day:

  • Outreach to Schools: A 5 Stem Plan: This resource from the Afterschool Alliance is an evolving document with recommendations for initial steps to connect and align with schools.
  • School Day and Afterschool Alignment: Aligning and coordinating with schools in your area will be imperative to the ongoing support you are able to provide to the youth you serve. UAN has created a number of tools and resources to guide you through everything you'll need to build a strong partnership including letter templates to contact school principals, a school alignment rubric, and more. You can also check out our alignment one-pager for tips at-a-glance. 

Staffing:

Moving forward it will be important to maintain smaller group sizes for longer periods of the day, here are our recommendations for staff recruiting and retention.  

Schedule and Structure:

Depending on the school district the students you serve attend, there may be a need to expand the hours that you offer programming or to move to virtual or a hybrid of both in-person and virtual programming.

Activities and Curriculum:

  • Outdoor Recreational Planning
  • Summer Activity Guide: Developed for the 50 State Afterschool Network with leadership from the Georgia Statewide Afterschool Network, the Summer Activity Guide is a suite of fun and engaging activities that can be used in-person, virtually, or by families year-round.
  • UAN Activity Database: A collection of activities and curriculums for both in-person and virtual programs
  • USBE Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide: This guide aims to help all parents and caregivers, including those who have limited experience with digital tools, those who are expert with these tools, and anywhere in between. Each section starts with foundational pieces and builds from there. 
  • Collaboration Opportunities: Through creative partnerships with other youth-serving organizations, you can find creative solutions to program offering gaps and expanded learning opportunities that would have normally been covered by field trips and guest speakers.  UAN is maintaining a database of both in-person and virtual providers who are interested in creating meaningful partnerships to enhance offerings.

Meals:

  • The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) helps to provide meals in communities throughout the state through Child Nutrition Programs.
  • Your organization may qualify to provide free meals to youth through the Seamless Summer Option to ensure that children continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session: Read More
  • USBE searchable map of Emergency Meals for Children: Read More
  • USDA searchable map of free meals available while schools are closed: Read More

Update Your Program Information:

The Utah Afterschool Network's Find A Program Map is used widely by parents, schools, and community partners to find local programs. Help us promote your program by updating your information any time you change hours, your primary contact, or other important information about your program.

Update Your Program Information

 

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