Breakfast Club Blog

The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is a curated space where bloggers from around the world contribute content on a continual basis about a variety of topics relevant to in and out-of-school time. The BOOST Breakfast Club blog is at the heart of an ongoing dialogue where expanded learning and education professionals share their personal thoughts and stories from the in and out-of-school time field. They also tell us what they ate for breakfast!

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company. Enjoy the brain food.

The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is Brain Food for In and Out-of-School Time Leaders!

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Program Design, Development, and Quality

Let’s GROW! Tips for Program Replication and Expansion

Corey Newhouse No Comments

Expanded learning programs have gotten a lot of attention in the first part of 2021 – and we deserve it! Funding from federal, state, and local governments is flowing to summer and out-of-school time providers, many of which are poised for large scale growth in the coming year. Thoughtful, intentional expansion is critical for our field to make the most of this opportunity. So, what should providers keep in mind as they ramp up? Our team at Public Profit helps mission-driven organizations take t...Read More

feet standing by sidewalk text reading Passion Led Us Here feet standing by sidewalk text reading Passion Led Us Here
Opinion / Staff Leadership and Management

10 Tips to Include Expanded Learning in Program Planning

Melissa Perez No Comments

This is a shout out to School and District Leaders, and everyone doing the work planning for a safe return to school in the Fall. The following list of 10 promising practices reflects what I have learned and experienced over the past 15+ years working in an ASES Expanded Learning Program, as we are classically known to be an afterthought. Just as you School and District Leaders are, we, your local Expanded Learning Program, are proactively planning for a successful student-centered school year. ...Read More

On-Site Staff / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

Negative Social Media Messaging, Safe Spaces, and Happy Kids

Julie Sesser No Comments

Now more than ever we are inundated with messaging from social media, news, text messages, and more. When I wake up each day I check the top 5 headlines from various media outlets, scroll through Facebook, check Instagram and LinkedIn and, not to be forgotten, I review the latest tweets from various people and groups that I follow on Twitter. When I started tracking how much time I spend starting my day this way, I noticed that it was a fairly big chunk of my morning. Many of the words that gree...Read More

Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

You Shouldn’t Play With Your Food, But You Should Play With Your Data!

Corey Newhouse No Comments

I’ve worked with many expanded learning programs in many settings over the years, making me one of the luckier researchers out there. Too often, though, I see program staff dedicating a lot of time and effort to collecting data, and almost none to learning from it. What a bummer. One reason why data goes in, but doesn’t come back out, is because teams have too few experiences with exploratory, low stakes, playful explorations of their data. Instead, data is used in a last-minute rush to get the ...Read More

Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

The California School Dashboard – A Resource For Partnership

Katie Brackenridge No Comments

This year’s California School Dashboard was just released.  What does that have to do with you?  A lot. It has to do with forging a real partnership with your school district around the kids you care about. The California School Dashboard Since I left the Partnership for Children & Youth, I’ve been working with the school day, and have learned a lot about California’s emerging System of Support for K-12 education. Here’s what I know (I promise this is eventually relevant to you): The Califor...Read More

Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management / Sustainability

The Terrifying Click of Heels in the Hall

Katie Brackenridge No Comments

When I was site coordinator at an elementary school in San Francisco, we were not afraid of the mice in the office, or the cold air that whipped through the poorly insulated windows on a foggy SF morning, or the cafeteria full of wildly enthusiastic pre-teens. No, but we were afraid of the click, click, click of the principal’s heels on the linoleum hallway. We could hear it about 2 minutes before she turned the corner into our closet-like office.  We’d look at each other across our desks, each ...Read More

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On-Site Staff / Opinion / Staff Leadership and Management / Uncategorized

Three Shining Lights Against a Dark Cloud

Katie Brackenridge No Comments

Under normal circumstances, I’m not one to be political in a public and professional forum, but really, I’m in need of some writing therapy. Every day, I read the latest news story about another negative appointment to the President- elect’s cabinet. Who knew there were so many people who both seem to despise the role of government AND also want to lead it? While alarming, those aren’t even the most upsetting parts of my daily doldrums. What really brings me down are the ...Read More

social-emotional learning social-emotional learning
Program Design, Development, and Quality

Finding Common Ground: Connecting Social-Emotional Learning During and Beyond the School Day

Katie Brackenridge No Comments

The Partnership for Children & Youth (PCY) has recently released Finding Common Ground: Connecting Social-Emotional Learning During and Beyond the School Day. This brief provides language and strategies to support alignment between K-12 and expanded learning programs, by cross-walking key priorities and initiatives in California that impact social-emotional learning (SEL). In PCY’s work with school districts and expanded learning providers over the last year, we have seen that many dis...Read More

fruits and vegetables food security fruits and vegetables food security
Program Design, Development, and Quality

Addressing Food Security in your Expanded Learning Program

Bruno Marchesi No Comments

Think about all of the meals that you ate today. Did you have to think about: 1. Did you eat today? 2. Did you have enough to eat today? 3. What would you like to eat today? 4. Or did you not even think about food as you may eat whatever you like whenever you like? Many of the students that we serve in our Expanded Learning programs answer different questions than the ones we probably answered. More and more students rely on the food that is being served in school cafeterias all across the natio...Read More

quality and funding quality and funding
Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

Investing in Quality With Increasing Costs

Julie McClure No Comments

As after school leaders, we are used to begging and borrowing, making a lot out of a little, and operating at beyond peak levels of productivity to make our programs the best they can be for our students and their families. We want to get the most out of our budgets and that is a good thing—but there are limits. Our after school programs have evolved so much in the past decade. They have moved from programs that provide academic enrichment, homework support, active recreation, and clubs to even ...Read More