First 90 Days of an After-School Program: 9 Moves

Updated September 17, 2026

In your first 90 days running an after-school program, fill one site before you add a second. Spend the first month getting found and getting on the phone. Spend the second writing down your minimums, cancel dates and ratios. Spend the third on the families you already have: a showcase on the last day, next term's registration, and one operator you can call.

This picks up where the startup checklist ends. If you still need the licensing, insurance and first-site steps, start with how to start an after-school program business. What follows is what I'd do with the 90 days after that. I founded Journey to STEAM in 2023. We've run programs at 75+ school sites for 2,500+ students, and 95% of our school partners renew. I made most of the mistakes below first.

What should I do in the first 90 days of an after-school program?

Nine things, in three blocks. Each block has one job.

1. Days 1 to 30, get found. Commit to one site where somebody already wants you.
2. Get into the district or parks listing, the school's flyer run and the next family event.
3. Make the phone calls nobody wants to make. Ten is a good first week.
4. Days 31 to 60, write the numbers down. Set your minimum at break-even plus two kids.
5. Publish the dates you'll decide whether a class runs.
6. Write your ratio and what each adult in the room does. On paper.
7. Days 61 to 90, keep the families you have. End the term with a showcase. Invite parents in for the last twenty minutes and let the kids show what they built.
8. Open next term's registration before this term ends, while that feeling is warm.
9. Find one mentor, one peer you can text and one community.

How many schools should I start with?

One. Fill it, then let it pull you to the second.

The most expensive mistake I made was growing school partnerships ahead of parent demand. I said yes to every school that said yes to me, because I thought access was the constraint. It wasn't. I ended up cancelling programs at sites where families hadn't asked for us yet, and every cancellation cost me something in that community.

The best sites in my network have one thing in common. They came to us. A principal who was excited. A parent group that had been asking. In this business, being pulled is worth more than being persuasive. I wrote more about reading a site before you commit in how to choose the right school partners.

How do families find a brand-new after-school program?

Through four channels that cost almost nothing: district and parks listings, word of mouth, school flyers and events, and families who've been with you before. In my own enrollment records, those four bring in most of our after-school registrations. You need to be findable. A marketing kit can wait.

Get in the parks and recreation guide. Get in the district listing. Make sure a parent who hears your name can find your registration link in one search.

I spent a full year in year two running paid experiments, on purpose, to see what money could do. For this kind of business, the growth came from the organic channels. I paid to learn that. You don't have to.

And get on the phone. People ask how we grew and I say, I call people. I'm good at it, and I'm willing, which is the part most people skip. I'm a behind-the-scenes person by nature, so this is a discipline I chose. The person on the other end is at work. It isn't that serious. They want to help you. Help them help you.

What enrollment numbers should I set before the term starts?

Three: a minimum, a decision date and a ratio. Set them once, on a calm day, and publish them.

The minimum is break-even plus two kids. A worked example, with sample numbers: a 10-week class at $240 with $1,000 in fixed costs for instructor pay, room and admin. After card processing and $12 in supplies you keep $220.53 per child. $1,000 / $220.53 = 4.5, so break-even is 5 kids and the published minimum is 5 + 2 = 7. The full worksheet is in how to set camp and class prices.

The decision dates are fixed. Mine: below 6 kids at seven days out or below 8 at two days out, the class is cancelled and families are refunded automatically. I keep those triggers looser than my instincts want, because most families whose program gets cancelled don't register with us again. The math is in when to cancel a class for low enrollment.

The ratio I got wrong. I walked into this field, saw other programs running eighteen kids per instructor, and assumed eighteen was the number. It was too big. I brought it down to fourteen for older kids and twelve for the younger ones, and I left money on the table for a full year to do it. I'd make that call again in a minute.

How do I know my price is right?

Ask one person who does what you do. It's the highest-return phone call available to you.

Don't underprice because you're new. Your program costs what it costs. On an intro call, another operator and I realized we served the same private school, so I asked what he charged per child. His rate was lower than mine. Neither of us knew that until we asked. He said the conversation itself was proof of why operators need each other.

The isolation in this work is financial as much as emotional. Operators lose money because they have nobody to compare notes with.

Can I run my first year on a spreadsheet?

Yes. I did. Know that it fails quietly. Nothing crashes. You start hearing about problems from other people.

The one thing to set up early is registration and payment in the same place, so a family who signs up has paid and lands on a roster without you touching it. Everything else can wait for your second term. If you haven't opened your first program yet, enrops for new programs shows what that first link looks like.

Who should I talk to in my first year?

One mentor, one peer and one community, in your first year. I waited until my third.

I spent two and a half years thinking my problems were my problems. I thought maybe I didn't know how to build a schedule properly. Then I got a fifteen-year veteran on the phone and asked how he made his. He said, a spreadsheet. Okay. So I'm not crazy.

There are free small-business mentoring programs. I found my mentor through one, and that one connection put me on a stage in front of a room of business owners. As a principal I had a room full of peers every month. As an operator I had none, so I made one. That's The Youth Enrichment Leader.

One last story. I over-built the first camp I ever taught, because I wanted it perfect, and I learned exactly what a week of camp costs to run. The last parent at pickup handed me flowers on her way out. I kept them on my kitchen counter for two years. That camp was net negative, and it was the beginning.

Start the thing. Fill one site. Write your numbers down. Make yourself findable. Find one person to call. You got this.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a license to run an after-school program?

It depends on your state and on what you run. Ask your state's child care licensing agency and keep the answer in writing. The startup guide shows how to check. This is general information, not legal advice.

Do I need background checks if my site doesn't ask for them?

Treat a background check on every adult as the floor, through the process your state and your site require. Parents assume it's done. Make that true.

Should I buy a franchise or build my own program?

Before I started, I sat through a franchise sales call and came close to writing the check. Then I inventoried what I already had and called people who had franchised. I built it myself. Do both of those things before you sign, and price an ongoing share of revenue against the one-time cost of building.

When should I add a second site?

When the first one fills and a second school or parent group asks for you. Being asked is the signal.

Should I pay for ads in my first term?

I wouldn't start there. Listings, flyers, school events and word of mouth did more for us than paid campaigns. Spend the first term on those and on phone calls.

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.