After school care in Lafayette?
hi there! I’m a bit lost on where to look for after school programs in Lafayette for kindergarten kids. Both parents work full time and are considering either private schools in Berkeley or moving to Lafayette (and public schools). Where can I find more information about the Lafayette after care programs? Is the aftercare offered at the elementary school or do we have to pick up and drop somewhere else? I have been researching for few days and am still lost. Thank you in advance for any tips!
rookie kindergarten mom
Nov 2, 2017
Parent Replies
Would ask Lamorinda Moms Group
Try www.parentscout.com. You can find everything from sports to art classes to camps. They also have sitters and if you can’t find one right away they get new people signing up daily so doesn’t hurt to check back.
Each elementary school has their own on-campus after school program, that are privately operated.
The one at Happy Valley is called Husky House. http://www.huskyhouseforkids.org/.
Springhill's is Kid's Hideout https://sites.google.com/site/kidshideoutcenter/
Burton Valley's is Merriwood http://merriewood.org/
I am not sure about Lafayette Elementary, but you could call the school and ask. Good luck!
At least for Lafayette Elementary, there is a private before and after school day care in a separate building on school property. It’s called CATS and the owner Chris is fantastic. The staff pick up the kindergarteners from their classrooms and walk them to CATS. They will do the same taking them to class if the child is there before school starts. Both my boys went there and have worked there as well. I highly recommend CATS. I believe all the elementary schools in Lafayette have this set up. If some of the schools don’t get covered in the responses, just call the school. They will know.
We live in Lafayette, both work long hours, and have twin kindergarteners. Based on our location, our kids would likely go to Lafayette Elementary. We heard from several people that the aftercare program there can be full and hard to get into. We went and visited it and it seemed fine. In the end, we ended up keeping our kids at a private school in Lafayette (The Meher Schools) which I cannot say enough good things about. The beforecare and aftercare programs are fully integrated into the school and run long hours -- 7am to 6:30pm. When the school is not in session, there is almost always daycare (for instance, this year at Christmastime, daycare is offered all but Christmas Day, New Years Day, and two other days). It is incredibly flexible -- i.e. if I have an early meeting one morning, I can just bring them early. The kids LOVE it there, everyone knows them by name (literally, everyone), and even when we get there at 5:30/6 to pick them up, they don't want to leave. It's like the school is their second family. And I feel such peace of mind, knowing that the kids are so happy and I never have to worry about needing to arrange after-school care! I have been told that part of the school's charter was actually to cater to families with working parents. Anyway, I know this probably sounds crazy -- everyone moves to Lafayette for the great schools -- but families with two working parents are a minority here, and you can tell. This solution has worked really well for us. Just my two cents. Feel free to contact me if I can be of any more help.