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Our Approach To After School and Academics

There’s MUCH  More To Homework Than Just Getting It Done

At Springboard After School our goal is to make sure your child’s homework is not only complete,
but completely understood.

Our teachers are certified –not volunteers, high school students or day-care providers–and we offer a truly unique academic component to after school.  On a daily basis, in small groups, your child receives crucial academic assistance.  Our teachers understand your school’s curriculum and work in conjunction with your child’s school teacher to ensure that your child understands the concepts being taught in class each day.  And if they don’t, our teachers will work to correct the problem by communicating with your child’s classroom teacher so that everyone is on the same page.

Additionally, our programs feature skill-building curriculum that work in tandem with the school curriculum.  We cover areas that include social competency, team work, math skills, reading comprehension and more.

Springboard Academics offers:

  • Homework support
  • Skill-building curriculum
  • Highly qualified teachers
  • Organizational guidance
  • Homework review before the end of the day
  • On-going communication between Springboard, families and school teachers

By the time you pick up your child, they will have had fun, completed their homework and possibly will have participated in an elective.  No more stress negotiating when and how to complete homework!  Less stress for you and your child!  It’s a win-win situation.

Our Philosophy

As students advance through grades K-8 how can parents be assured their children are learning and retaining what they are being taught in school? What system of checks and balances is in place to ensure they understand their work? Schools and states test constantly, but such testing doesn’t always identify learning gaps.

In public schools the average class has 25-35 children. Individual teachers may have four or five classes per day representing 125+ children. With an enormous amount of material to cover, teachers are pressured more than ever to get through lesson plans quickly and efficiently. However, not all students learn at the same pace and many children get left behind.

A preponderance of learning is expected to happen after school. As educators, we hope parents can help their children during these precious after school hours, but we also recognize this isn’t always possible. Only parents who can afford to hire expensive tutors are able to give their children an academic advantage; Springboard believes this creates a polarizing inequality among our students.

Springboard has developed a system to help students fill in the learning gaps and assures that students understand what they are being taught. This system uses certified teachers who impart crucial thinking and processing skills needed for students to achieve academic and social success.

Three Essential Building Blocks of Springboard

  1. Academics – Springboard is designed to provide essential academic assistance. Springboard teachers are not day-care or after-school workers, and are qualified to examine each child’s schoolwork to make sure NO child falls behind academically as they progress through the grades. Once an individual assessment has been made, personalized care is taken to develop a path to guide and help a child with schoolwork. Children spend as much time as they need in the academic part of our program in order to guarantee proficiency, prevent falling behind and to assure competency.
  2. Communication - Springboard is successful due to our three-part communication circle:
    • Springboard Teacher to Parents – We communicate daily to families and will contact them with questions, comments and updates regarding a child’s progress.
    • Springboard Teacher to School Teacher – We work with school teachers in order to understand the individual needs of each child.
    • Parent to Springboard Teacher – We believe that parents are crucial to a child’s success. Families are encouraged to communicate directly with their child’s Springboard teacher with any questions or specific concerns in person or through our on-line “Parent Connect” program.
  3. Fun – We know kids need a break from academics when homework is done and we want them to be excited about coming to Springboard. We surround our core academic program with an extensive set of Electives, sports and Springboard’s exclusive Den. We build a Den in each school that is filled with fun games, physical fitness, introductory programs to music, art, science, dance, etc. Our programs are designed to help examine the things that pique any child’s interest. Springboard’s Electives are wide ranging and include band, theater, robotics, Spanish, painting and more.

Springboard Core Beliefs

Springboard seeks to raise the bar for extended-day programming. We do this by adhering to 10 important core beliefs ingrained in our philosophy and culture:

  • We see children as our customers, so we design our programs to be exciting, captivating and fun.
  • We provide a research-based approach to after-school care in order to promote academic achievement, social and emotional growth, physical well-being and healthy choices for children.
  • We incorporate skills that contribute to academic achievement such as physical fitness, social skills and the use of 21st Century skills.
  • We hire well-trained, highly qualified teachers who have committed their professional lives to improving educational outcomes for children.
  • We provide ongoing enrichment and training to our staff to improve their ability to teach within the context of our programs.
  • We become firmly embedded within our partner schools so that we can fully support their mission and vision.
  • We infuse structure into our before and after-school environment so that parents and children can expect consistency, reliability in staff, scheduling and program organization.
  • Students complete their homework thoroughly and accurately while attending Springboard – this allows for quality family time when at home in the evening. Our teachers provide one-on-one support and tutelage where needed. All work is checked with care and diligence to ensure understanding, comprehension and knowledge.
  • The same level of planning and organization that is part of our programming is also the hallmark of our administrative structure. Parents know they can rely on us for ease of use. They appreciate the fact that we offer multiple modes of communication in order to meet their needs and the needs of their children.
  • We keep the price for all of our programming affordable to ensure access to as many children as possible in order to truly make a difference.