How to Fill After-School Seats After School Starts (Ep. 36)

Episode 36 · August 24, 2026 · Solo episode

Fall enrollment has a second window. It opens around week two or three of school, when parents finally see their real schedule and feel the early-dismissal problem. To fill empty after-school seats, keep selling into that window: contact the families already on your list, work every channel inside the school, and run a friction check on your registration link from a phone.

Listen or watch: Spotify · YouTube · Apple Podcasts

Fall is our new year. This episode is how I think about fall at Journey to STEAM. Most after-school owners stop selling the day school starts. I did it for years. It's the most expensive habit I see in our industry.

When is the second fall enrollment window?

Two to three weeks after the first day of school. The first window closes when school starts. Then families settle in, learn what the bus situation really is, and live through a few 2:15 dismissals with two working parents. That's when many decide they need an after-school program after all.

Your dates depend on where you live. Some states start in early August. Here in the Pacific Northwest it can be mid-September. Find your district's first day and count forward two weeks.

The first window opens earlier than most people think. Mine opens the spring before, when we invite last year's families back. This year several of our fall programs were full before the school had shared a thing, because of invitations we sent in spring.

Should every fall program start the first week of school?

No. Stagger your starts. Launching every site in one week is overwhelming, and a later start catches parents who missed the flyer at back-to-school night.

I use window two for the uncertain bets: a site where enrollment has been dicey, a new school, a program led by a new instructor who happens to live nearby. If you're unsure of a community, run a four-week mini session or a sample day. If a program misses its minimum in week one, try again for mid-October. You'll know the school better by then, including whether you picked the most crowded day of the week. My rules for that call are in when to cancel a class for low enrollment.

Who should I contact first when I have empty seats?

The people already on your list. The best source of a customer is a returning customer, and contacting them is free. Four groups, in this order:

• Families from that school who enrolled last year and haven't this year.
• Families who started registering and didn't finish. Each one wanted in and hit a wall.
• Families who sat on a waiting list for any past term.
• Families whose older child aged out. There's often a younger sibling, a cousin or a best friend.

A worked example with sample numbers. Last year 60 families enrolled at one school and 22 have re-registered. That's 60 - 22 = 38 who haven't heard from you. Add 9 unfinished registrations and 6 names from an old waiting list: 38 + 9 + 6 = 53 warm contacts. If your minimum is 6 and you're sitting at 4, you need 2 of 53.

If you're small and you know these families, text them. Keep it short: who you are, the date you're back at their school, that you remember their child loved the spring program, and the link. For that to work your list needs tags: school, community, child's age, past programs. And be useful between asks, or families learn to ignore you.

How would you know someone started and didn't finish? That question kept me up at night, so we built it into enrops. Families who start and don't finish get a reminder automatically, on the Free plan.

How do I get the school to promote my program?

Find your advocate. When I analyzed my own partnerships, school size and family income didn't predict which ones worked. One thing did: someone at the school who answers within about 48 hours when you ask them to share a flyer. The best ones ask how your numbers look and offer help. Then work the channels inside the school, in this order.

1. The school's own email or newsletter. Free, and the highest converting when it goes out regularly.
2. Half-page flyers in the take-home folder. Folders usually go home Thursday. Ask first, print black and white, and skip schools where you're already full.
3. The school communication app. Some communities read it daily and some never open it. Some apps charge outside providers to post.
4. The PTA or PTO newsletter and social page. Check that it's active.
5. A poster and ten flyers wherever parent traffic really is.
6. Back-to-school night, in person. An owner behind the table stands out.

More on this in how to get school referrals and how to choose school partners.

What is a registration friction check?

It's registering for your own program on a phone and counting every place a parent could quit. We build on laptops. Parents register from phones, often in the car line. Check five things: the page fits the screen, the price is on the page, every fee is included up front, a wallet payment is offered, and nobody is forced to create a third-party account to sign up.

If your process is "email me, I'll reply in two days, then I'll send a payment link, then the waiver," count those steps from her side. Every extra field is a family you may lose. The camp version is in Episode 33, and the four leaks I found are in why parents abandon registration.

What would I do this week if I had empty seats?

The friction check first, so nothing I send leads to a leaky link. Then I'd message last year's families at that school, follow up on every unfinished registration and old waiting list, and ask my school advocate for a newsletter spot and Thursday flyers. Last, a poster by the dismissal door and a table at the next school event. All of that before I'd buy a single ad.

Who should listen: any after-school owner looking at a roster with room on it.

Listen or watch: Spotify · YouTube · Apple Podcasts

Frequently asked questions

Is October too late to start a fall program?

No. Fall is still the season of highest interest. If you missed fall entirely, read how to start a school program in January.

Should I buy ads to fill an after-school class?

Work your list and the school's channels first. Both are free, and both reach parents at that exact school.

How do I know I have a list problem?

Most of last year's families haven't registered this year, and you haven't written to them. Or you have waiting list names nobody ever contacted.

Create your first registration. Free for businesses. Live in under 5 minutes. Or click through a sample registration first.

Arielle Hammond, Ed.D. is the founder of enrops and host of The Youth Enrichment Leader, presented by enrops.