2026 After School Program Planner and Tool Kit

Spring is a big booking season for parents. While you might think about spring as summer camp booking season, we’ve also found that many parents book fall after school programming at the same time. Whether you offer both or just after school programs, spring is an important time for you to get your name out there to prospective customers, continue to foster relationships with current families, and take bookings for your fall after school programs!

Spring scheduling

• Sign up with an activity registration and management software: Using software like Sawyer for after school program registration and management can set your business up for success, streamline operations, increase your bookings, save yourself time and energy, and get a great team behind you.
• Plan your schedule: In our 2026 Trend Report, we analyzed over 13 million children’s activity bookings processed on Sawyer in 2025 and found that 3-4pm is the most popular time for elementary-aged activities. Middle and high school programs perform best between 4-6pm. Think about your after school audience when you plan when to hold your programming so you can maximize capacity and appeal to more families.
• Publish your programs: It’s important to publish your after school programs as early as possible so interested families can book when they are ready. Spring is the perfect time for parents to look at their child’s fall schedule and make booking decisions. Plus, if they are already booking summer camp with you, you can offer a deal to encourage after school program booking as well.
• Set up a rush registration: When you have a high demand program like after school semesters, we recommend setting up a rush registration event where you inform your customers of a specific time that the program’s registration will open up. This won’t be your customers’ only registration opportunity, but it will help you understand demand and excitement levels.
• Give customers a taste of the fun: Offer drop-in camps during spring break and on days off so prospective students can try your activities before their families make the big decision to register for the fall. This is a great opportunity to make connections with new families, test out new activities and lessons, and increase your customer base. You can also consider an open house event where families can visit and learn more about your programs before registering.
• Provide flexibility: After school programs are big purchases. Flexible payment and booking options help make the buying decision easier for prospective customers. With Sawyer, you can let families book by day, week, or month as well as by credit card, with ACH, in installments, and more. In preparation for our 2026 Trend Report, we surveyed 255 parents and 77% reported interest in using a BNPL option to book activities for their children.

Spring admin work

• Update your website: Showcase all of the fun from the past semesters by adding photos and videos to your website. And don’t forget to include your new after school program dates and booking links! With Sawyer, it’s simple and easy to add the booking widget right onto your website. Parents will see a beautifully designed, mobile-first schedule that includes all of the important information for your program and most importantly, a button to register!
• Assess and determine pricing: Many educators choose to increase prices year over year to offset rising costs and to continue improving. If you plan to raise prices, make this change when you publish your fall after school programs so that customers are not surprised.
• Evaluate based on your goals: Reflect on your past after school semesters. Did you accomplish the goals you set out for yourself, your team, and your business? Where were the challenges? How can you avoid those pitfalls next time? Where are opportunities for growth this year?
• Create a hiring plan: Fall is closer than you think. Now is the time to think about hiring your instructors and staff. Use our guide for support with inclusive hiring practices for after school programs.

Spring activity planning

• Determine what type of program you want to run: There are many different types of after school programs and one important step is deciding what is right for your business and community. You can run semester-long sessions where your classes build on each other, weekly drop-ins, or a mix. Making these decisions will help you determine what type of activities and lessons you can teach and how you can best market your program. If you choose to do drop-ins, we found that Tuesdays are the most popular day of the week for those types of after school activities. Fridays see the least success!
• Start building curriculum: It takes time to build and write your curriculum and lesson plans for a whole semester. We recommend starting early, especially so you can make your after school program listings even more robust by describing what students will learn and do in the classes.

Spring marketing

• Connect with schools: Connecting with local schools is a great way to meet customers where they are and give your after school program credibility. Make use of the spring to engage with staff and PTA members while school is still in session. Use our guide with an editable email outreach template to make connections with schools.
• Build your email list: According to Statista, 92% of people in the US use email as a form of communication. That means email marketing is one of the best ways to reach current and potential customers. With local events, connections to schools, and drop-in camps, you can build your email list of new and returning customers. The best part? Sawyer easily integrates with messaging platforms like Mailchimp and Constant Contact.
• Showcase your offerings: When you add gift cards, sibling discounts, and other options to your listings, include that information in your marketing. Don’t rely on prospective customers to search: Tell them and celebrate the options!
• Keep up with your social media: Make your social media presence known so your program can stay top of mind for families! Keep the excitement going all year long as students enjoy your activities. Always include a call-to-action (CTA) in your social media (and email marketing) encouraging people to book.
• Get some face time in: Attend local community and school events, post flyers in places parents frequent (like indoor gyms, the pediatrician's office, cafes, and stores that fit your programming like sports equipment stores, art supplies stores, etc).

“We’ve found that using a multi-channel approach makes a real difference in driving registrations. We combine email announcements, widget banners, and discount codes to reach both new and returning families.” - Mr. Dave Music

When school is out, you might think your after school activities won’t be top of mind for families. But that is not the case! Parents need to get their children’s fall schedules squared away before the school year begins. Summer is the time to set yourself apart from the competition and give parents all of the reasons to book your after school program. Plus, if you also run summer camp, this is a great opportunity to get your current campers enrolled in your after school program and keep the fun going all year long!

Summer scheduling

• Publish your after school programs: If you haven’t already, you need to get your after school listings published as quickly as you can. By the time summer rolls around, parents are certainly going to be making plans for the fall. They cannot book with you if you do not have your listings up! Make them exciting and professional and watch the registrations roll in.
• Run a flash promotion: Offering timed promotions, discounts, and other specials create a sense of urgency and excitement around your after school program.
• Open up another rush registration: Not all of your customers might have been ready to purchase in the spring, so summer is a great time to open up another rush registration. Once again, this will help you understand which programs are the most in demand and let you finesse your schedule before the fall begins.
• ‍Show you are in demand: Let parents know that your after school programs are filling up. Include this information in your listings and emails so parents know spots are limited. With Sawyer, you can also easily enable a waitlist to keep track of interested customers when your camps fill up.
• Offer gift cards: Gift cards are a great opportunity for grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends to give the gift of your programs! Offering gift cards is an easy way to increase your revenue and help your customers give the gift of learning for birthdays and other special occasions.
• Keep track of your waitlist: As your waitlists fill up, keep track of who is interested in which programs, classes, and activities. If your waitlist gets large enough, you can consider opening another session of that program. At the very least, you will know which after school activities are most popular so you can plan to run more of those next season or year.

“Waitlists are helpful because we can really see in real time the demand for our [programs]. In some weeks, our waitlists are up to 70 kids! It shows us the potential of what could be possible.” Oh! Canary

Summer admin work

• Create a DEI policy: It’s important to create an after school program where everyone feels welcome and included. Building a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy can help ensure this happens. The best DEI policies focus on making your space safe for your students as well as your instructors. Work with your team to develop a policy that helps and empowers everyone.

Summer activity planning

• Write lesson plans: Once you have your curriculum outlined, it is time to plan your activities and write your lesson plans. Lesson plans are important to keep both instructors and students on track throughout the program.
• Lean into pop culture: We surveyed parents and learned that they are more likely to book an activity related to a trending topic like Wicked, KPop Demon Hunters, matcha, the World Cup, technology/AI, and more for their children. Connect pop culture with learning and watch the bookings roll in!
• Gather supplies: Review your lesson plans and activities to determine what supplies you need to make this program the best one yet. Make sure you stay organized while getting everything you need.

Summer marketing

• Invest in advertising: Now is the time to get your name out there. Beyond social media, Google Ads are a simple and cost effective way to spread the word about your program. In addition to organic posts on social media, you can attract and engage families by boosting posts and running paid ads on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) as well as Google Ads. These simple and cost effective ad platforms are DIY and allow you to easily target new and existing customers. Learn more about Facebook marketing in our guide.
• Highlight your value: In your email and social media marketing, showcase your instructors, lesson plans, glowing reviews, and more! Why should parents trust you with their children? Include pictures and videos of your activities in action, parent testimonials, and anything else that highlights your value.
• Offer referral bonuses: Encourage families to refer friends to your program and reward them when they do!
• Lean into urgency: As you get more bookings, focus on the limited remaining spots in your email marketing subject lines, social media posts, and other forms of communication with parents. Be as specific as possible so parents know that the clock is ticking. Similar to early bird offers, “last chance” messaging can persuade parents to act fast.
• Connect with your customers: Social media is great because you can actually build connections with prospective customers (and current customers, as well!). Open your DMs for questions about your after school program, run contests, ask customers to post reviews, and more.
• Nurture your audience: Create audience segments for more successful email marketing. You can parse customers by where they are in the buying journey or by demographic information like the age of their children, the type of activity they are most interested in, etc. Then, send specific emails that will resonate with them.

"When we announce specific classes we pull age groups and send communications to those specific segments so people don’t get overwhelmed." - Treasure Trunk Theatre

That’s right! While your after school program is running, you should start planning your next semester! The beauty of after school programming is that you have two semesters, meaning you have two big chances for registration. When your students are having fun and enjoying your programming in the fall, it’s the best time to promote registration for the winter.

Fall scheduling

• Publish your after school program for next semester: Parents will book for the next semester if their child is currently enjoying your program. Don’t miss out on those bookings!
• Offer timed discounts: Encourage parents to book after school for next semester as early as possible by offering a discount if they book before this current semester ends.
• Fill open spaces with drop-ins and free trials: If you still have open slots in your classes, open up drop-ins and free trials to encourage families to try before committing to the whole semester. In our analysis of over 13 million bookings made on Sawyer in 2025, we found that 30% of free trial customers convert to a paid booking and 30% of drop-in customers convert to a semester booking, so it’s worth it to offer these options!

Fall admin work

• Focus on staff retention: Ensure your instructors and staff are feeling appreciated for all of their hard work. When your team feels good, they will be more likely to return for the next camp season. Use our guide to learn how to retain employees.
• Evaluate your staff: As the semester comes to end, it is important to run evaluations with your instructors and staff. Get a rundown of how the semester went, where instructors and students succeeded and struggled, and so much more. This will help you make next semester even better.

Fall activity planning

• Keep track of what works: Which activities have been a hit this semester? Have your instructors and staff take notes of what is working (and what is not!) to build next semester’s curriculum and lesson plans.

Fall marketing

• Post, post, post: While your classes are in session, post every day on your social media accounts to show prospective (and current!) customers how much fun everyone is having at your program.
• Create a sense of urgency: Email your current customers to tell them that they will get a discount if they book next semester’s after school program before the current semester ends. Check out our guide for more tips on email marketing for after school programs.
• Celebrate your current students: Research estimates it is 5-25x less expensive to keep current customers coming back than to find new customers. As the semester comes to an end, utilize email marketing, social media marketing, and even in-person marketing (think: pickup and drop-off!) to encourage your customers to return for another semester.
• Find ambassadors: Know of a parent with an engaged social media following or is an influential member in their community? Maybe someone who holds a role in the PTA? Consider offering discounts or free sessions for their child in exchange for social media posts and referrals.
• Continue to highlight your value to prospective customers: Now is the time to entice families who may have signed their children up for other programs this year. Showcase photos, videos, testimonials, and more. Make prospective customers feel jealous that they missed out on your program and encourage them to book for next semester!
• Gather testimonials: While everyone is having fun, ask students and their parents for casual interviews and other user-generated content that you can use in your marketing for next year. With a class registration and management system like Sawyer, it’s simple to gather reviews!

“Sawyer features like parent reviews have increased our visibility and credibility, fueling our growth and success." -Robofun

The winter season is a great time for you to analyze, assess, and make plans for success. In addition, there are a lot of school breaks and days off in the winter, which are perfect opportunities to offer additional programming, allowing you to grow your customer base and test out new activities.

Winter scheduling

• Expand your offerings: Once you’ve closed your registration for your winter after school classes, it doesn’t mean your work is done. This season is full of school breaks and days off, which means you can increase revenue and expand your customer base if you offer camps and classes on those days.
• Publish your programs as early as possible: The earlier the better, so we recommend publishing your fall after school programs in the winter to get ahead of early planning parents. To optimize your activity listing, use high quality photos, include sample schedules, provide flexibility in your booking and payment options, offer add-ons like school pickup and snacks, and more.

Winter admin work

• Audit your website: Parents are looking for professional educators that they can trust. They are also looking for an easy and digital booking experience. In 2025, over 71% of parents booked activities for their family on mobile, so make sure your website is optimized for mobile booking. In addition, check that for dead ends or broken links, professional photos, clear language, and a simple, mobile optimized booking tool like Sawyer.
• Set SMART goals: Create a series of SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timed) goals that cover a variety of elements. For example, build goals around registration numbers, marketing, student retention, revenue, and instructor and staff training. Use our guide to learn more about how to set goals for your business.

Winter activity planning

• Test out your activities: Thinking about trying something new during your next after school semester? You can test out new activities, themes, games, and more during school break and day off camps as well as weekend programming. If your students love it, then you can incorporate it into your new after school program and if not, now you know!

Winter marketing

• ‍Collect reviews: When a semester of fun is still fresh in their minds, it is the perfect time to ask customers for reviews. With a class registration and management system like Sawyer, customer reviews are front and center on your booking page. You can also use reviews in your social media and email marketing. Sawyer makes it simple to collect reviews from customers by asking for feedback right on the platform!
• Stay top of mind: Customers might not be thinking about after school programming, so it is so important to stay on their mind. Post frequently on social media and engage with your prospective and current customers. Vary your posts to include photos and videos from your previous and current programming, testimonials and reviews, instructor bios, and more.
• Interact with families: Connect with your students and their families on social media to get them excited. Use Instagram Stories to ask questions, run polls, and more, then share the responses to create a sense of community. Open up your space for events, open houses, and more to bring people in and let them get to know you and your programming.

“Have events at your space: Hosting parties, holiday events, and creating the community within the space is just as important as outreach.” -Twinkle Toes Dance Company

Planning and executing a successful after school program requires a ton of moving pieces. At Sawyer, we are the experts. We’ve gathered all of the resources you need to make your 2026-27 after school program the best it can be. Download your customizable after school planner here!

Scheduling

• Benefits of class management software
• How to optimize your activity listing

Administrative

• 4 grants that can help you fund your after school program
• How to set goals for your business
• How Sawyer makes running your children’s activity business easier
• Benefits of gift cards
• Inclusive hiring practices for after school programs
• How to retain employees
• How Sawyer makes safety simple for children’s activity businesses
• Important reports and dashboard for children’s activity businesses

Activity planning

• How to write an after school program curriculum
• After school activity lesson plans (with template)
• 15 after school activity ideas for all ages

Marketing

• How to make connections with schools (with email template)
• Strategies for increasing after school program enrollment
• How to ask customers for reviews
• Google Ads for after school programs
• Facebook marketing for after school programs
• Event marketing for after school programs
• Email marketing for after school programs
• Social media marketing for after school programs
• Instagram Story ideas for after school programs
• TikTok marketing for after school programs
• Why is user-generated content (UGC) important for after school programs?
• Marketing budget template for after school programs
• How to use Canva to make marketing assets

‍