After-care teams have to manage registrations, schedules, payments, student information, and parent communication, often with a small administrative team. Balancing your regular management tasks, delivering educational and engaging activities, and supporting safe, organized program operations can be challenging in the best of times.
That’s where afterschool program management software comes in. Afterschool program software can connect enrollment, payments, scheduling, student information, and family communications so staff spend less time managing disconnected processes. In this guide, we’ll explore the five key areas of before and after-care management that afterschool program management software helps with, along with the features you should look for every step of the way. Then, we’ll dive into the top providers of these solutions.
Before you start researching afterschool program management software solutions, it’s important to understand what these tools can help you accomplish. Here, we’ll explore the benefits of afterschool program software and the features that enable them.
With registration software, parents can easily browse programs online and register at their convenience. You and your staff can then immediately use that registrant data to build an attendance sheet and send communications. The right software solution will ensure parents can browse available programs, submit required information, and pay online without relying on paper forms or calls to staff.
When your afterschool program management software enables parents to register their children online, it creates benefits like:
However, simply offering a standalone online registration process isn’t enough. To really capitalize on this convenient and streamlined process, it should be part of a more comprehensive afterschool software system.
In addition to digitizing your registration process, after-care program management software offers flexible scheduling that fits families’ needs. You can offer full-year enrollment, specific sessions, and a drop-in schedule so parents can pick what works best for their families.
Afterschool software reduces the need for paper calendars, offering scheduling benefits like:
Your afterschool management solution should also integrate with your existing Student Information System (SIS). This makes scheduling much easier, as you can sync existing students into your management software and keep your student database up to date.
Now that parents have registered and scheduled their child, your job is to collect payments on time and ensure the online payment process is secure. With afterschool program management software, you can spend less time chasing parents for checks and more time focusing on your students.
After-care teams use their program management software to assist with:
Ensure your afterschool management software has the following features to make payment processing easier:
Your solution should also be PCI-compliant and enable administrators to accept all payment methods, including checks, e-checks, credit cards, debit cards, and cash.
Afterschool program managers need to keep track of student details like medical needs, authorized pick-ups, and daily schedules. When this information is spread across different spreadsheets or platforms, it creates administrative friction.
After-care software enables you to coordinate program administration with school and student data, offering features such as:
CommunityPass helps schools and community organizations manage before- and after-care enrollment, payments, scheduling, student information, and family communications in one connected system. With CommunityPass, you can access features for:
CommunityPass can reduce the administrative work behind before- and after-care programs so staff can spend more time focused on students and families. We’ll even offer setup and web-based training to get you started!
Procare Solutions, a leading name in child care management software for the past 30 years, offers solutions for schools, churches, and community or child care centers that streamline management through:
Procare’s pricing is single-tier, meaning that every client has access to every feature. This is ideal for large programs, but smaller programs might end up paying for more functionality than they really need.
Brightwheel is an all-in-one childcare management software that offers features for schools, multisite centers, in-home childcare households, camps, and more. It helps afterschool programs schedule activities and communicate with parents. Features include:
Brightwheel’s software is a good fit for programs with multiple sites or offerings, as their expansive features enable many types of program management but aren’t specifically tailored to the needs of afterschool programs.
SchoolPass provides a modern software solution designed to automate afterschool program registration and simplify administration. Their platform offers complete visibility into program enrollment alongside the following features:
SchoolPass specializes in ensuring student safety. For afterschool programs particularly interested in airtight attendance tracking and carefully monitored pick-ups, SchoolPass is an ideal provider.
EZChildTrack’s afterschool program software provides robust tracking built for camp and afterschool programs. EZChildTrack emphasizes its ability to increase parent involvement and reduce staff burden through:
EZChildTrack is a strong choice for programs hoping to scale their operations, as its users range from small 20-30-student programs to multi-site operations.
iCare Software offers customizable afterschool management software designed to help programs navigate administrative complexities and allocate resources efficiently. Some of their top features are:
With iCare, you can share your program’s specific hurdles and receive software that is tailored to your operational needs.
Want to learn more about how the right technology can improve your school or recreation center’s program management and community engagement? Check out a few of our favorite additional resources: