YMCA AfterCare registration opens today

The YMCA AfterCare registration opened to the public this morning, for anyone new to the program or school district. FYI, Clinton is already full! They are offering an option to have kids bussed from Clinton to Tuscan, or of course you can do the program on-site at the Y if there's space as well. As of this morning there was.

As demonstrated in the original post, the spots fill up super-quickly. If you want a slot for your school kid (for before- or after-care), sign up TODAY. I'd be willing to bet on most/all spots filling up today - no joke.

Thank God they sent us a preregistration this year. We signed up last minute this past year because our Nanny quit two days before school started. Didn't realize she was just trying to shake us down for more money so we were in a panic to find coverage in the 11th hour. We went to the Y office and both of the women there told us there was no way we could get our daughter in. Fortunately for us the director heard the exchange from his office and let us in. The Y is awesome!!!

EDIT:

Just realized my post looks a little like I'm suggesting if you wait til the last minute you will get a spot. That's not what I meant to say at all. We just got lucky. 

I'm not sure what is supposed to happen with new families in the area though. Plenty of people will buy homes over the summer. I have one friend who is supposed to close on her Maplewood house in late June, and she was told she can't register at the Y until she's registered for school... I guess it all works out in the end but it is stressful!

GGartrell said:

Thank God they sent us a preregistration this year.

That's one of the super-awesome things about being a current family using the before- or after-care options: they give you preregistration forms and you get first dibs.

Not that it matters for today's new family registration, but another cool thing to keep in mind: if your child is enrolled in their last year of preschool at the Y, you can sign up him or her for before- and after-care before the slots open to the general public. Woohoo! 

If things are so tight with after care, then maybe it is time for the town/school district to look at the issue again and see whether something can be done to make more spots available.  Back before the Y took over the Afterschool program, I know that there were liaisons from the townships who had some input/influence on the afterschool program (and perhaps other childcare related issues as well, I'm not sure.)  If this is still the case then those people should be getting busy trying to figure out some additional strategies.  If it is not still the case, then why not?  It is an important issue, especially in a commuter community like ours and (presumably) we want to be inviting and welcoming to new families rather than putting them through extra stress because of limited childcare spaces coupled with unfriendly enrollment policies.

ETA - Perhaps something else for the candidates to address.  (It isn't only about the Post Office site!)

One thing to keep in mind: it could simply be a case of fire safety rules and care provider-student ratios. You can't (for example) open up every cafeteria table at Tuscan and fill them with before- and after-care students. The kids need space to run and play, especially in the snowy months when they don't go outside. I also assume that the Y has a specific caregiver-student ratio mandated by some entity that doesn't allow them to take on a dozen or two extra students. I'd also bet that the Y wants to keep all the kids in one central spot, as opposed to (for example) opening a second location in the gym.

I could also be very wrong. These are just a few thoughts as to why expanding the number of kids at each location could be difficult.

OMG, please say its not true that Clinton is full.  We have been there since kindergarten and I don't recall receiving the form this year.