Lights On Afterschool: Seven ways to strengthen school-day and afterschool connections

October 22nd is Lights On Afterschool, a day to celebrate the afterschool field and raise awareness about the importance of youth-centered supports and expanded learning opportunities. It’s also a good time to explore what afterschool can look like in a community school.

Here at CSLX, we ground our work in the Community School Essentials Framework, affectionately known as “the wheel.” One of its key practices, “expanded and enriched learning opportunities,” encompasses before- and afterschool, weekend, and summer programs that offer more time, support, and opportunities for learning and engagement. What does this key practice look like, well, in practice?

At its heart, it’s about shared ownership of student success, regardless of when or how we interact with young people. As adults, we experience our days partly through the roles we play: which door we enter, where we sit, those with whom we work, and what we’re responsible for. It’s easy to focus on our own parts and pieces. But young people don’t necessarily make those same distinctions–that’s not how they experience the world (or at least the school-world). When teachers, school staff, afterschool providers, and community partners create a web of support and learning opportunities across the entire day, we’re working in ways that better reflect how young people experience the world.

In community schools, teams treat time as a shared resource. School-day and afterschool staff work toward common goals, but the ways they support learning can—and should—look different. Alignment means reinforcing, not replicating, classroom learning.

That’s where afterschool partners’ youth development expertise comes in. Community schools take a whole-child approach, recognizing the assets each partner brings. Afterschool teams offer valuable experience in building relationships, supporting youth voice, and creating engaging learning experiences. Their expertise can help shape what happens throughout the day.

And then there’s the role trusted adults play in youth engagement and belonging. When young people have adults they trust, adults who support them and who care about them, good things happen: stronger connections, greater engagement, and new opportunities. Those adults aren’t limited to teachers and school staff. Afterschool staff expand that potential circle of support. The work becomes about the meaning we make together, in relationship with each other.

What’s a great way to celebrate Lights On Afterschool this year? Work on strengthening the connections between school-day and expanded learning teams. Here are a few places to start.

• Make time for alignment. Establish regular meetings with afterschool team leads, with a standing agenda focused on shared goals, student experiences, and opportunities to collaborate.
• Connect around academic goals. Make sure out-of-school time (OST) teams understand the school’s goals and have the tools and resources to reinforce classroom learning in their own ways.
• Build a shared approach to culture and climate. If your school uses Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), include afterschool program staff in training. Create consistent expectations across the day, and make room for school-day teams to learn from afterschool partners’ youth development expertise.
• Learn together. Invite program staff to participate in—and contribute to—professional development. Build structures for ongoing, shared learning.
• Share data and information in both directions. Establish appropriate data-sharing agreements and routines so each team’s knowledge of students informs other teams’ work.
• Make relationships part of the routine. Create simple ways for classroom teachers and program instructors to connect (with brief check-ins, for example).
• Use resources strategically. Review how you’re accessing and using Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) funding, and seek strong partners who share your commitment to young people.

These connections take intention and structure. They also start with curiosity: What does each team know about young people that the other could learn from? What becomes possible when we plan—and make meaning—together? 

At their best, community schools bring together the strengths of everyone who supports young people—during the school day, and beyond it. This Lights On Afterschool, let's celebrate our expanded learning partners not only for what they contribute after the bell rings, but for the essential role they play in the larger community school ecosystem. Join Think Together, along with thousands of expanded learning programs across the nation, to shine a light on the impact of afterschool programs and the brighter futures they help create. Tune in to the live broadcast at 3:30 p.m. PT—and keep an eye out for a familiar face in CSLX’s Managing Director, Dr. Hayin Kimner!

For more information about Lights On Afterschool, please visit the Afterschool Alliance. 

by Melissa Mitchell

Melissa Mitchell is a community school practitioner with more than fifteen years in the field. Her experiences range from Community School Coordinator to leading the Federation for Community Schools, a Illinois-wide capacity building and policy organization. Melissa has supported community school development in a variety of ways, from providing coaching and direct technical assistance to schools, districts, practitioners and community partners to working with legislators and policymakers to develop supportive-state level policies that advanced community school development across Illinois.