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Henry Co. to launch long-sought after school care program in August at each of the district's three elementary schools; "reliable, consistent, save place" for children
Henry County Local, Eminence, June 21, 2017
HCPS to offer after school care this fall
BY MELISSA BLANKENSHIP
When school starts Aug. 9, parents of elementary students enrolled in Henry County Public Schools will have a convenient option for after-school child care. The After School Academy will provide on-site care from dismissal to 6 p.m. each school day at each of the three elementary schools in the district.
“We have had many calls asking for suggestions for after-school childcare and now we have an answer,” said Chelsey Tingle, the principal at Eastern Elementary School. “We are hoping this benefits the school and community in multiple ways. Parents will now have a reliable, consistent and safe place for their child to stay until 6 p.m.”
The After School Academy will be managed by Ben Murphy, who has experience working with care programs in Oldham County.
“It was a great job as I was able to go to work and have fun working with the children,” Murphy said. “I found the key to success with school-age children was actually playing with them.”
Murphy graduated from South Oldham High School in 2008 and completed his undergraduate work at Mount St. Joseph University and the University of Kentucky. He finished his graduate work at Ohio Valley University and currently serves as a parttime assistant coach at Asbury University. Murphy will be working closely with site directors at each school.
“I’ve worked in these kind of programs in the past in multiple schools. I know what makes a good and strong program. We’re working on putting together a great staff for the after school program,” Murphy said. “The bottom line is I want to do a great job for Henry County Schools and the students there.”
Murphy is currently accepting applications for staff and will soon conduct interviews. His goal is to have all staff hired in time for the start of school, but he needs some help from parents to do that. The program is required to have one staff member per every 20 children.
“We’re currently guessing on that right now, using a ballpark figure,” Murphy said. “Pre-enrollment is really important so I know how many kids we’ll have at each school and how many staff need to be there for them. I would hate to turn kids away. That’s the last thing I want to do, so we need to make sure we get all our kids enrolled.”
When parents enroll their children in the After School Academy, they can expect their student to receive daily homework help, nutritious meals and healthy snacks, enrichment programs and physical activity, including dance, music, sports and fitness.
“These days kids are staying more and more inside. I was always outside when I was younger,” Murphy said. “Our program will try to get kids back into physical activity. We’ll be in the gym or outside as much as we can be. I don’t think they get as much of that as they should and at the end of the day, it’s good for them.”
The time after school will be structured. After dismissal, children will gather for a welcome and announcements at which they will receive meals and snacks. Then comes homework assistance. Younger children who don’t have homework will enjoy story time and extended learning activities. Then groups will rotate through enrichment areas, outdoor activities and physical activities in the gym.
Nearing pick-up time, students will be engaged in extended learning and personal choice activities.
“Our children will benefit from the structure, which will include homework time,” Tingle said. “It will be advantageous to have adults working with individual or small groups of children to assist them in enrichment activities.”
For Murphy, it’s about connecting with the kids.
“It’s more of a focus on connections, personal connections between staff and students,” Murphy said. “Our staff will really connect with the kids and those will be adult connections that not all kids get to have.”
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