Brightside Academy School Age Program

At Brightside Academy, it’s all about bringing out the best in your child. Whether your child chooses to nurture their inner scientist, artist, teacher, doctor, CEO, or all of the above, we want to give them the freedom to follow all of their curiosities and passions!

Fun activities play a big role in how your child will develop critical skills. It may just feel like playing to your child, but what’s really happening is learning that will last a lifetime!

Our program offers enriching learning opportunities in a fun environment for maturing school-age children. This includes before-school and after-school care, back-up or emergency care for school holidays and closings, and exciting summer day camp programs for children up to age 12.

Parents who work outside the home often are challenged to provide supervised before and after school care for their children. In fact, more than 70 percent of U.S. children have parents who work away from home, leaving 15 million youth unsupervised by adults when the school day ends.

Brightside Academy’s School Age Program supports busy families with a safe and engaging learning environment for their children when they are not in school.

We offer:

• Service for children 5- to 12-years-old
• Homework help and tutoring
• Enriching activities: drama, art, technology and more
• Safe and secure environment
• Nutritious meals and snacks included
• Passionate and caring teachers
• Payment through vouchers/subsidies/span>
• Snacks and hot meals are provided for free to those who qualify

Many of our locations also provide safe and reliable transportation to and from select schools.

And There’s More!

Distance Learning Support

With many school districts offering distance learning or a hybrid of in classroom and at home learning, Brightside Academy is here to help parents and students by supporting distance learning.

More than just homework helpers…Brightside Academy will offer both full-day and after-school programming for elementary-school-aged children.

BSA is collaborating with many of the school districts we serve in order to help families navigate this new learning environment. Our goal is to try and keep our kiddos lives as normal as possible, our teachers will assist the children with their assigned classwork via distance learning as well as give students the opportunity to participate in additional activities such as music, art, and physical education.

Our Academy

Our Mission is to provide school-age families from all backgrounds, access to a high-quality out-of-school experience that heightens their ability to compete as life-long learners in an ever changing world.

What does excellent out-of-school education look like? We’re glad you asked.

• A Hands-On, Project-Based Curriculum
• A Clean, Safe, and Engaging Environment
• A Culture of Collaboration & Kindness
• Instilling and Reinforcing Respect, Fun, and Leadership
• Operating Hours That Make Sense
• Locations Close To Your Home, Work, & School
• Individual Attention Through An Average Student to Teacher Ratio of 12:1
• Snacks and hot meals are provided for free to those who qualify

Children are born with an eagerness to learn. They are curious by nature, all they need is the right environment to achieve their full potential. Brightside Academy strives to provide an out-of-school experience that stretches a student’s exploratory thinking while building confidence, peer to peer unity, and respect.

Facilities & Amenities

Brightside Academy is proud to offer cutting-edge, modern-day facilities that grant your school-aged child unique opportunities to investigate and explore real-time adventures that stimulate their development.

• Indoor gyms that promote purposeful play and peer to peer engagement!
• Creative environments that stimulate knowledge in art, science, and the world.
• Safety-first thought process that includes secure entrances/exits with sign-in journals.
• Janitorial and maintenance techs that keep everything spotless and in working order.
• Education suites that are equipped with everything needed from books, technology, learning materials and supplies.

Nutritious Menu

By participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), we ensure that our menus meet the nutrition standards of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In addition to serving your school-aged child great food, we teach them to develop healthy eating habits through designed activities.

School aged children receive:

• A healthy morning snack
• A nourishing lunch and/or dinner

Staff & Certifications

Brightside Academy has been providing high level child-care and early education for over 25 years.  We employ over 450 people and serve over 3,000 children per day, with 33 locations in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh Regions. 

We are recognized by the NECPA (National Early Childhood Program Accreditation) as we take great care in deciding who we hire to protect and teach your children. We strive to always earn the kind of high ratings that state initiatives look for.

Adhering to, then attempting to surpass the standards of Pennsylvania’s Keystone STARS programs are part of the DNA of our management’s strategies.

In addition to always meeting state requirements and qualifications, we look to specifically recruit management and teaching professionals. Many have degrees in early childhood education, but employing professional, high-quality teachers is only the beginning. Studies show that teachers are a key determinant of positive outcomes in early education.  High quality teacher-child interaction is very important to promote not only academic skills but social and emotional competence. 

Our entire staff receives additional training throughout the year in diverse and important topics that include, but aren’t limited to:

• Appropriate practices that encourage proper child development.

• Health, safety, and nutrition.

• Deep-dive specifics about the curriculum.

• Lesson planning and individualized instruction.

• Screening and assessment strategies.

• Diversity and inclusion.

• Teacher-child interactions.

• Quality early learning environments.

Curriculum and Activities

Philosophy of Education

At Brightside Academy, we believe that children learn through project-based activities that are an extension to their in-school learning. This helps them continue to explore and discover their world, become more self-aware and confident, and reach developmental milestones.

We ensure a safe, warm, and responsive environment and access to appropriate learning materials, technology, and books.

We provide an array of experiences to meet each individual child’s learning style. We provide a supportive, inclusive, and multi-sensory enlightening setting in which your child’s needs can be met.

General Curriculum and Activities 

Brightside Academy follows the Creative Curriculum framework.

Parents who work outside the home often are challenged to provide supervision before and after school care for their children. In fact, more than 70 percent of U.S. children have parents who work away from home, leaving 15 million youth unsupervised by adults when the school day ends.

Brightside Academy’s before and after school program supports busy families with adult supervision for their children when they are not in school. We offer:

• Service for children 5- to 12-years-old
• Homework help and tutoring
• Enriching activities: drama, art, technology and more
• Safe and secure environment
• Nutritious meals and snacks included
• Passionate and caring teachers
• Payment through vouchers/subsidies

Many of our locations also provide safe and reliable transportation to and from select schools. 

School Age Activities

• Building Our Classroom Community: The children will get to know one another and build their classroom community.Some activities include: 

1. 1. Getting to know you Jenga.
   2. Creating a self-portrait. 
   3. Teamwork games and activities.

• Architecture study: The students will learn about architecture, blueprints, and design. Children will create blueprints for their neighborhood and will use boxes, recycled materials, and art supplies to re-create their own neighborhood.
• Seeds: The children will learn about seeds and caring for our plants and environments. Children will grow and tend to their own garden and/or plants.
• Grocery Store: The children will learn about a grocery store, food, and economy. Some activities include: 

1. 1. Designing, then creating their own store. 
   2. Pricing their own items. 
   3. Learning about budgeting and money by visiting each other’s stores and purchasing items.

• The World of Imagination: During this theme, children will be engaged in fun STEAM activities based on nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Some activities include: 

1. 1. Engineering a bridge for the gingerbread man.
   2. Creating a pulley system for Rapunzel so she can escape the tower. 
   3. Build a house that won’t fall down for the Three Little Pigs.
   4.  Creating a safety device for Humpty Dumpty so he will not crack.

Curriculum Study Timeline (Click to expand)

COVID-19 Measures

The current Covid-19 pandemic may have you wondering if it is safe to send your child to our facility for care. Here are some of the methods we use to enhance our health and safety protocols during this time.

The following items are an abbreviated list of our new procedures. Please remember these guidelines are to protect your children, our staff, and the community and may change at our discretion.

• Face Masks & Hand Sanitizer: All persons entering the academy must wear a face mask and must use hand sanitizer upon entering.

• Health Screening: All children and staff will have a health screening prior to entering the building and their temperature will be taken throughout the day.

• Social Distancing: Only one family will be permitted in the lobby at a time. Please wait in the designated spot and maintain 6-feet of social distancing.

• Symptomatic Exclusion: Anyone with a fever, cough, sore throat or flu-like symptoms will not be permitted to enter the academy.

• Drop Off Hours: Will now be from 6:00- 9:30 am. After the daily health screening, the intake attendant will safely escort your child(ren) to their classroom.

• Pick Up Hours: will now be from 3:30-6:00 pm. Upon arrival at the academy, a staff member will bring your child(ren) to you.

• Classroom Stability: Your child’s classroom will be stable in that the same group of children and teachers will be together each day.

• Fun Facemasks: We have purchased face masks that have fun animal faces to reduce the fear for your child(ren). Each teacher will be required to wear them all day and will be permitted to wear a face shield.

• Staff Preparedness: Staff have been educated on the Covid-19 symptoms as well as preventive measures to ward off the spread of the virus.