Enrollment in Blue Door Academy is up by as many as 180 students since the start of the school year, helping to ease concerns about the stability of before- and after-school care at Wauwatosa public schools, though the district still may need to consolidate some Blue Door sites based on low numbers.
The Wauwatosa School District has contracted with Boys & Girls Clubs of America to offer its Blue Door Academy in 10 Tosa elementary schools this year for families interested in paying for the service, which includes wraparound care for junior kindergarteners.
The district previously contracted with Right at School to provide that service, until last spring, when at least two incidents between staff and students prompted the district to end that contract and seek alternatives.
Unlike Right at School, Blue Door Academy establishes minimum participation rates at each of its sites to ensure feasibility, and Wauwatosa's initial enrollment figures fell short of those minimums at some of the 10 schools. Last month, the School Board voted for a backup plan that would authorize busing if necessary to consolidate sites that still aren't meeting the minimums by Oct. 1.
David Paulsen
The latest numbers, however, give cause for optimism, with some exceptions. Across the 10 schools, the number of students receiving care from Blue Door Academy now averages 513, and last week, the program reached a high mark of 644 students in one day, up from a first-week daily high of 465, according to Scot Ecker, the district’s chief finance and operations officer.