The Roane County Before and After School Program
The Before and After School Program was established by the Roane County Board of Education and began operation in 1991. The program has, since then, expanded to all county elementary schools. The Before and After School Program provides a comfortable, stable and safe environment for children. The children encounter adequate care and supervision that will enhance their development and growth. To ensure the quality of the program, a site coordinator and a well qualified staff of workers have been placed at each participating school. The Before and After School Program is a service provided by the Roane County School System to show its support for the community.

Purpose and Philosophy
The purpose of the Before and After School Program is to provide an environment in which children can feel safe and be educationally stimulated during the hours when there is no adult supervision in their home. By using available school facilities and the support system of well trained school personnel who can assist in planning, we provide a program that benefits emotionally, socially, physically and educationally. This is a program designed with the families of working parents in mind. It is not baby-sitting; however, any parents, working or non working, may enroll their children in the Before and After School Program.

The program is planned and conducted by staff who are trained to meet the developmental needs of children and who will provide positive adult role models. The staff has the responsibility to provide an educationally rich environment that offers a variety of opportunities for a child to learn. The staff must also provide a safe, supportive and nurturing environment where a child can feel secure, loved and at ease with adults and peers. The program is designed to supplement and support the child’s experiences at home and at school by offering a well balanced program with the input of the children, child’s parents, the child’s teachers and professionals in the school age care field. Supervised homework sessions will be provided at the request of either students, parents or teachers.

The primary activity will be “play”, meaning that, within reason, students will be given optimum opportunity to make choices and to pursue their own activities and ideas at their own pace. Through “play”, each child will be exposed to and will be able to explore new areas of interest, They will develop creativity, will learn problem solving skills, will grow in independence, will make plans and implement them and will grow in skills by learning to cooperate with and provide support to others. Every effort will be made to have each child feel accepted and, in turn, to accept others. Through active, outdoor motor skills and play, children will have the opportunity to relieve stress, develop coordination and improve the neurological functions that impact perceptual skills.

Recognizing that each child is unique, and each child and each child’s family may have special aspirations for the individual participant’s time in the program, the staff will seek student and parent input into the total program planning as well as make themselves available for conferences with students and parents, upon request.