The Principal's Guide to Zero-Cost After School & School Break Camp Partnerships

Principals and district leaders know families want more: before and after school care, enrichment clubs, and camps on break days. What schools usually don't have is the staff, time, or budget to run them. That's where a turnkey out-of-school time partner comes in.

What The Recreation Academy runs for schools

Cadet Care before and after school care After school enrichment clubs (STEM, sports, creative clubs) Sports clinics School-break and in-service day camps Summer camps Mobile field trips

How the partnership works

$0 cost to the school. Families register and pay through us, and partner schools receive a revenue share. We staff it. Every site is led by an experienced team member with professional experience leading kids, supported by coaches who start at $17.50 an hour. We vet everyone. All staff complete FBI fingerprinting and a background check. We bring committed educators. Many of our coaches are education majors recruited through local college and university partnerships, and many earn university credit hours for their work. We handle the busywork. Registration, payments, rosters, parent communication, and scheduling are on us.

What happens during program time

Our coaches don't sit on their phones. Each week they plan activities, facilitate them, debrief with kids about how it went, and refine the plan for next time. Kids build social skills, confidence, and friendships through active participation, with a 1:14 staff-to-child ratio in Cadet Care.

Questions to ask any provider

Who leads the site day to day? How are staff screened and paid? What does a typical afternoon look like? Who handles registration and parent questions? What does it cost the school? We're happy to answer every one.

We partner with schools in St. Louis, Nashville, and Medford. Request a school partnership packet at therecreationacademy.com/partner-with-us.