Enrollment and Staffing

Enrollment Trends

In spring 2022, community demand for after-school care significantly exceeded Kids Club's capacity. With over 1,300 contract requests but only 541 contracts accepted, more than 700 families were placed on the waitlist. The first-come, first-serve registration process left many families frustrated and without care options.

Since then, Kids Club has implemented a lottery registration system and has made substantial progress in expanding capacity. The data below shows steady growth from 2022-23 through 2024-25, with accepted contracts increasing from around 541 in spring 2022 to 988 by spring 2024 - nearly doubling capacity over two years. This growth pattern is consistent throughout the school year, with enrollment typically building from around 950 to 1,000 contracts in fall to peak levels of 1,150 to 1,200 by spring.

The 2025-26 pattern suggests continued expansion, with spring acceptance numbers at 1,000 contracts. This represents a dramatic improvement from the initial capacity constraints. 

The transition from a first-come, first-serve to a lottery system, combined with this significant capacity expansion, has helped address the initial access challenges while maintaining steady growth to meet community needs.

Kids Club: Total Contracts Accepted for After-School Care
	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26
Spring	541	958	988	1000
Aug	554	957	1000	1064
Sept	617	946	985	1074
Oct	660	990	1010	1142
Nov	693	990	995	1240
Dec	760	991	1022	1261
Jan	847	1003	1125	1276
Feb	963	1033	1127
Mar	979	1046	1157
Apr	979	1060	1176
May	1009	1065	1187

 

 

Kids Club Staffing

As a licensed childcare provider, Kids Club must maintain a 1:15 staff-to-student ratio by law. This means we need one staff member for every 15 children. To determine how many staff we need at each location, we consider more than just our total enrollment numbers. We look at:

Daily Attendance Patterns: Not every enrolled student attends every day. We track which students are scheduled to attend and use past attendance data to predict how many will actually show up.

Students Needing Extra Support: Some children require additional one-on-one attention to participate successfully in the program.

Staff Absences: We plan for sick days and scheduled time off to ensure we always have enough staff to keep children safe.

We continuously recruit and hire new staff to expand our program capacity (which allows us to accept more contracts) and to replace staff who leave. This ongoing hiring process helps us maintain safe ratios while growing to meet community demand. 

Staff Recruitment and Retention

To build a strong team that stays with us long-term, we've made several improvements:

Competitive Pay: We offer competitive wages and participate in the MN Great Start Compensation Support program, which provides additional compensation for childcare workers. 

EHS Partnership: Edina High School juniors and seniors can earn class credit while getting paid to work at Kids Club through the EHS Education Experience course.  

Dedicated Hiring Support: We have a full-time staff member whose only job is finding new employees and helping current staff stay happy and engaged.

Mentorship Program: We pair new hires with experienced staff members who help them learn the ropes and feel welcome on the team.

Hiring Help: We work with a local staffing agency that guides job applicants through our hiring process, making it easier for them to successfully join our team.

These changes help us find quality staff and reduce turnover, which means more stability for the children and families we serve.

Additional Community Resources

In order to provide additional after school options, we are collaborating with youth serving organizations in our community. These programs are not affiliated with Edina Public Schools. These offsite opportunities include one-way transportation* from Edina Public Schools. 

*EPS transportation allows one address per student in the morning and one address per student in the afternoon. If you choose to participate in one of the programs below and choose to use the provided transportation, you will need to change your afternoon address with Transportation Services. This address will be consider your afternoon address regardless of how many days your child attends. Please contact EPS Transportation Services to change your child's bus schedule. 

A2D Academy
A2D Academy is a local non profit that teaches the love of Arts and Education to students in Kindergarten through 5th grade. A2D provides after school programming called Explorer's Club. Open Monday-Friday 2:30-5:30 pm, students explore through structured STEAM activities with licensed elementary teachers as well as play at Edinborough Park. Bussing available from Concord, Cornelia, Countryside, Creek Valley and Highlands Elementary. Snacks and daily activities included in the daily fee. Two day a week minimum contract for the entirety of the school year. Register at a2dacademy.com through the parent portal. 

Que Tal Spanish Language Program
Que Tal provides classes and programs which prepare students for the future by providing extensive exposure to the Spanish language. Learn more at quetalmn.org.