GSW Education Partners

Halfway through June and the GSW Summer Giveaway is still going strong.

One K-12 or after-school program leader wins a full Signature Transformation consulting engagement. $5,799 value. Winner announced August 4.

If you have not entered yet, it only takes a minute. Share this post and drop a comment telling us the one thing your program is working to improve this summer.

Know a program director who could use this? Tag them below.

We are reading every entry.

A program we work with started this school year with almost half their staff positions unfilled.

They were running a strong summer program, doing everything right by their students. But heading into fall, the staffing picture was genuinely alarming.

We did not redesign their program. We changed their hiring calendar by four months and helped them build a pipeline with local community colleges.

By February, 94% of positions were filled. Same budget. Different system.

If your program is heading into fall with open positions, the best time to start is now, not August.

Has your program found a staffing approach that works? We would love to hear it in the comments.

Something we hear often from program directors we work with:

"I know what we need. I just do not have anyone to build it with."

That sentence gets us every time.

The people running K-12 and after-school programs across this country are some of the most dedicated professionals in education. They know their students, their communities, and their programs better than any outside consultant ever will.

What they often lack is not knowledge. It is time, capacity, and a partner willing to sit down and build the systems alongside them.

That is the whole reason GSW exists.

Grateful today for every program director doing the work.

Good news for 21st CCLC programs.

Congress finalized the FY 2026 spending bill last month and maintained $1.329 billion in dedicated 21st CCLC funding. The proposal to collapse it into a block grant with 17 other programs was rejected.

If you run a 21st CCLC site, your funding structure is intact for this cycle.

The work advocates, program directors, and education leaders did in response to the proposed cuts made a difference.

Now is the time to document what your program accomplished this year while the outcomes are still fresh. That narrative is your strongest asset for the next funding cycle.

Questions about what this means for your program? Drop them below.

Something every summer program director should do before July 1:

Take the Summer Program Readiness Assessment.

It takes about 10 minutes. It evaluates your program across six quality pillars: curriculum design, staffing, operations, financial health, leadership, and community partnerships.

At the end, you get a score and a breakdown by pillar so you know exactly where your program is strong and where to focus before summer ends.

Free. No registration required.

If you have already taken it and want to talk through your results, drop a comment below.

Link is in the comments.

The June edition of The Practitioner's Pulse is live.

If you run an after-school program, a 21st CCLC site, or any K-12 program through the summer, this one is worth reading before June 15.

It covers the summer learning slide (the data is more specific than most summaries suggest), the 21st CCLC funding news from Congress, and a practical fall planning guide.

Plus: the GSW Summer Giveaway is in full swing. One program leader wins a $5,799 consulting engagement. Details are in the issue.

Link is in the comments.

We are giving away our full Signature Transformation consulting package, valued at $5,799.

One winner. Announced August 4, 2026.

This is for K-12 program directors, after-school coordinators, OST leaders, and district program administrators who are doing the work every day and could use a genuine partner to help take their program to the next level.

What you win: 40 hours of embedded GSW consulting, full program assessment, curriculum review, staffing strategy, and a financial sustainability plan tailored to your program.

To enter:
Follow our page.
Share this post to your timeline.
Comment below with the one challenge your program is working through right now.

Winner announced August 4. Link in the comments.

Share or tag this with a program director who deserves it.

On Memorial Day, we are thinking about the people who dedicate their lives to something larger than themselves.

That includes, closer to home, every educator who shows up every day to shape what comes next for the students in their care.

We are grateful for the commitment that makes education work.

Rest, recharge. Summer is almost here.

Summer staffing tip worth sharing:

The educators who fill summer program roles fastest are the ones who received a personal call or message, not a job posting.

Your strongest candidates from last summer already know your program, your culture, and your kids. They are the most efficient hire you can make. A two minute check-in call now is worth more than three weeks of recruiting later.

This week, make five calls. Not emails. Calls.

What has worked for your program when it comes to finding reliable summer staff?

If your program runs on 21st CCLC funding, there are three things worth doing before June.

First: check whether your state has opened its FY2027 continuation grant cycle. Several states are running review processes right now and the deadlines are tighter than usual.

Second: pull your attendance and outcome data into a format that tells a clear story. Funders and state education agencies are looking for programs that can demonstrate impact per dollar. That case is much easier to make in May than in August.

Third: identify one alternative funding lane. Title IV-A is underutilized in many districts that qualify. Local levy and municipal co-funding have become more realistic since the ESSER cliff. Even a partial alternative reduces your single-source risk significantly.

The advocacy community is doing important work at the federal level. Your program still needs to plan as if the decision is not made yet.

Need help thinking through the funding picture? Drop a comment or check the link in the first comment for our free Budget Planner.