How Do Two-Working-Parent Families Arrange Before-School and After-School Care? Does the School Have Care on Campus, When Does It End, and What Does It Cost?

How two-working-parent families arrange before-school and after-school care is a question many parents in Carmel Valley face every day. Elementary school usually starts a little after 8 in the morning and lets out a little after 2 in the afternoon, while most two-working-parent families do not get off work until after 5, so the two or three hours in between need a plan, and it is something to think through before buying a home.

Whether the school has care on campus depends on the school, and the care is not always run by the school itself. Parents we interviewed mentioned that Solana Highlands has after-school activities, but those activities are not run directly by the school. They are run by an outside organization inside the school, and parents had a good impression of the teachers there. A parent at Carmel Valley Middle also mentioned that the school library stays open for a while after school, so if parents cannot pick up the child right away, the child can stay in the library to do homework. In other words, after-school care comes in many forms. Some is run by the school, some by outside organizations, and some is simply the library staying open, and every school is different, so parents need to ask school by school.

When it ends, what it costs, and how early to join the waitlist are three questions with no single answer. They depend on the school and the organization. After-school care usually ends at 5 or 6 in the afternoon, fees are charged monthly and vary by organization, and a popular program may need to be joined six months or even a year in advance. Once the school is set, parents should ask about after-school care right away, instead of waiting until just before school starts, when it may already be full. For two-working-parent families especially, after-school care is not an optional extra. It is a daily necessity, and the earlier it is arranged, the better.

Besides care at school, there are a few other options. One is after-school programs and tutoring centers outside of school. There are quite a few around Carmel Valley, with programs from homework help to arts and talents, and parents can pick by the child's interests. Another is taking turns with neighbors. The parent community in Carmel Valley is very active, and many families help each other this way, with one family picking up the children today and another family doing it tomorrow. A third is hiring a nanny to come to the house, which costs more, but the timing is the most flexible, and the child goes straight home after school without going somewhere else.

Before-school care is worth mentioning too. Some schools open a little after 7 in the morning and let children arrive early, and some do not, so if parents start work early, ask first what time the school opens and whether children can arrive early. If the school does not offer before-school care, parents need another arrangement, or need to adjust work hours.

So for two-working-parent families arranging before-school and after-school care, the whole thing comes down to asking early and getting on the list early. Once the school is set, ask right away about the form of after-school care, when it ends, what it costs, and how the waitlist works, and look at outside programs and neighbor help at the same time. Once those two or three hours after school are arranged, daily life for a two-working-parent family stops being a scramble every day.