Director of Afterschool and Summer Programs

About Achievement First

Achievement First (AF) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization supporting 39 public charter schools across New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. For more than 25 years, AF has been recognized as one of the top tuition-free public charter school networks in the country. We are committed to creating schools of academic excellence within nurturing environments — schools that prepare students to be college-ready and to pursue and succeed in whatever paths they choose in life.

The majority of AF students are Black and Latinx children from low-income families, many of whom will be the first in their families to graduate from college. Across our network, we employ more than 2,200 staff members — 64% of whom identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color — who collectively educate nearly 15,000 students in Brooklyn and Queens, NY; New Haven, Bridgeport, and Hartford, CT; and Providence and Cranston, RI.

Our mission is to prepare every student to excel in college, career, and life; deepen their understanding of self and community; and lead lives of purpose. We believe in the limitless potential within our students and their power to shape a more just society. That belief drives our deep commitment to student achievement: we aim to set a high bar for learning and create warm, demanding classrooms where rigorous instruction is paired with the care, encouragement, and consistency every student deserves.

We are looking for a strategic and dynamic Director to join our Teaching and Learning team.

Your Impact

At Achievement First, we believe a great education extends beyond the classroom. We’re expanding our extracurricular offerings to include robust after-school and summer programs that enrich our students’ experiences and strengthen our communities. The Enrichment Director will lead this work—designing our after-school strategy, collaborating closely with the Enrichment Teaching & Learning Team, and overseeing all summer programming, including AF Camp and summer school. This role ensures that enrichment outside the classroom aligns seamlessly with the excellence and equity we strive for during the school day.

Reporting directly to the Senior Director of Enrichment your responsibilities will include but not be limited to:

Rebuild NY Aftercare Program

• Lead and own the transformation of New York’s aftercare model.
• Engage school leaders, families, and network support teams to understand the current state of the program—including strengths, challenges, needs, interests, and available resources.
• Redesign the aftercare strategy by setting clear goals, priorities, roles and responsibilities, implementation timelines, and a comprehensive cross-functional project plan.
• Build operational trust and stakeholder alignment to support a strong and sustainable 2026-27 launch

Summer School (Anticipated workstream for Summer 2026 and longer-term program ownership)

• Support the launch of Achievement First summer school programming in collaboration with Team Academic Operations
• Depending on organizational capacity and scholar/family needs, lead phases of summer school design and planning
• Engage key stakeholders—including school leaders, regional operations, families, and vendors—to inform program direction
• Co-lead strategic planning sessions and operational design decisions
• Guide development of summer school operational structures: scheduling, enrollment, staffing, dismissal, and partner readiness

Vendor & Partner Ecosystem Design and Management

• Lead the sourcing, vetting, and selection of new partners and vendors for Aftercare.
• Design and manage a structured RFP (Request for Proposal) process to evaluate provider capabilities, pricing models, staffing plans, training approaches, and enrollment and dismissal systems.
• Review and score vendor proposals, facilitate recommendation meetings, and build reciprocal relationships grounded in mission alignment and operational partnership.
• Manage end-to-end communication and contracting between vendors and schools, ensuring clear pricing transparency and a smooth execution of enrollment, staffing, and training systems.

Project Planning, Ownership & Management

• Create, manage, and own the master project plan for NY Aftercare, Summer School and AF Camp workflows.
• Establish program milestones, assign owners across school and network teams, and ensure accountability to deadlines.
• Translate strategy into durable implementation tools—including readiness rubrics, trackers, checklists, review trackers, and implementation dashboards.
• Provide direct implementation support as schools operationalize orientation structures, schedules, dismissal processes, and partnership coordination for both aftercare and summer programming.

Implementation, Coaching & Program Launch Support

• Partner with school-based aftercare leads, regional summer staff, and enrichment point people to ensure readiness for the 2026-27 launch.
• Provide rapid problem-solving, implementation coaching, and cross-functional operational support to ensure clarity of process, cohesion of systems, and stability at launch.
• Ensure schools and vendors experience cohesive support rather than siloed handoffs.

Assessment, Reporting & Long-Term Institutionalization

• Establish and oversee ongoing feedback and reporting systems that measure school and family Aftercare and AF Camp satisfaction, participation, operational quality, and ROI (Return on Investment).
• Lead collection of surveys, artifacts from summer visits, impact stories, and cross-regional insights.
• Translate program learning into institutionalized annual cycles supported by sustainable BAU (Business as Usual) funding and repeatable systems for evaluation, vendor renewal, and contracting renewal

Afterschool Enrichment

• Partner with the Enrichment Team and academic leaders to support the design and execution of an aligned long-term afterschool enrichment model for Arts and Athletics across grades K–12.
• Ensure that program structures strengthen recruitment, retention, and student and family experience.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor’s degree (B.A., B.S., B.S.N., or equivalent) required

Experience

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in education and operational leadership
• Demonstrated success in strategic and operational planning
Experience managing and developing others

Knowledge & Skills

• Ability to design and implement high-quality after-school programming across diverse settings and stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of coaching best practices and adult learning principles
• Ability to identify and secure low-cost, high-impact enrichment opportunities for students

Travel Expectations

This is a hybrid role. The expectation is that the person in the role would be on site either in schools or out NYC Network Support office at least 3 days a week. There may be additional travel to regions outside of your own on a monthly basis.

Compensation

Achievement First sets salaries are set through a lens of equity, and based on the requisite skills, education, and experience relevant to the role. The salary for this position is $117,753. In order to uphold our commitment to equity, Achievement First does not negotiate pay. Additionally, Achievement First offers to all regular, full-time employees a comprehensive benefits package that includes paid time off, medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, a 403(b) retirement benefit package with match, and paid Family Leave.

Achievement First is an equal opportunity employer and an organization that values diversity. People from all diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. Spanish language proficiency is a plus. You can learn more about diversity at Achievement First here: http://achievementfirst.org/about-us/diversity/