Parents expect any program for their children to prioritize safety above all else. As an afterschool administrator, you expect the same of your program.
It can be challenging to guarantee children and teenagers' safety, especially during the hours when most parents are still working.
Afterschool management software can help you simplify your program’s safety by automating administrative tasks. EZReports software allows you to easily integrate with EZChildTrack, track student attendance, monitor teachers and staff, and track meals, all of which can improve your program’s safety.
Leverage Communication
Communication is a critical component of your program’s safety policy. The school staff and afterschool program staff must have seamless coordination to keep from losing students in the transition from school to afterschool.
Coordination is also vital when an emergency arises. If the school is threatened by dangerous weather, the fire alarm goes off, or a stranger has infiltrated the building, communication channels are needed to help everyone band together and follow the appropriate safety procedure.
Afterschool management software can store all policy and procedure documents, allowing fast and easy access when needed. If a teacher or staff member needs to know the steps to perform if a student is injured or becomes ill, they can quickly find the information in the solution’s central database.
EZReports is easily integrated with EZChildTrack, which includes a parent portal for easy communication. Parents can be informed of where their children are when something terrible happens and how they can find them later.
Track Enrollment and Attendance
Daily attendance rosters can help find missing students, but only if the information is accessible. Paper rosters are prone to errors and missing information. Also, looking through file cabinets and reading documents, attempting to track a single person can feel nearly impossible.
Automating enrollment and attendance ensures you have all the critical information you need on each child and family, including who is allowed to pick up the child at the end of the day to an emergency contact if you need to alert a parent quickly.
As you take attendance, both in and out, you can use the system to cross-check with school staff for anyone who’s missing. You need to know if the student went missing between the end of class and the beginning of your program or if that student has been out all day.
You can store authorized guardians' names and keep pictures of those who are allowed to pick up children. You can include any information on children in the middle of a custody dispute or at risk from a specific individual.
Monitor Teachers, Staff, and Vendors
Everyone working at an afterschool program must be cleared to work with children, and you need to monitor vendors for their quality of service.
You or the vendor should perform background checks on everyone in contact with your students. The assessment includes social security verification, an address trace, a local and national criminal record search, and the sex offender registry.
The background check results are easily stored with the individual's record in the afterschool management software. If needed, the information can be accessed quickly and kept up to date.
Use the information to identify everyone in your facility at any given time and alert security if someone who doesn't belong is there.
Afterschool management software also helps track on-time staff arrival to ensure a smooth transition from daily school to afterschool. Automated time tracking lets you see whether your staff is coming in at the expected time and working the agreed hours.
Most afterschool programs and state licensing agencies require vendors to maintain a designated level of insurance coverage for their roles in your program. It must be high enough to cover any potential liabilities from vendor-sponsored activities in case you must file a claim.
Outcomes Tracking
Track all three Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) indicators for students participating in after-school programs to easily generate the Fed21APR outcomes reports. You can record and analyze test scores, day school grades, and teacher survey data.
Monitoring grades and test scores can help you identify student problems. Often, children and teens who are struggling at home or in other areas start to do worse in school and show less interest in their hobbies. The ability to track performance can be an early indicator that a student may need extra help or attention.
Contact EZReports
EZReports provides all the tools you need to keep your students safe when attending your afterschool program. From monitoring staff to tracking grades, EZReports streamlines your operations and eliminates errors.
By properly using the EZReport tools, you can watch for missing children, ensure nobody is in the facility that shouldn’t be, and that all children are performing well in school and other programs.
Contact EZReports to learn how we can help you prioritize safety.