Staying After School with Maya

Maya (left) and Ms. Erin (right) do homework together while they wait for Maya’s older sibling to get out of class.

When Maya entered Pre-K at Alex Green Elementary School this academic year, getting a ride home could be a struggle sometimes. Both of her parents are on kidney dialysis, and their appointments made it difficult for them to pick her up on time every day.

Unfortunately, taking the bus wasn’t an option for Maya either, since the Pre-K student is too young to ride it. These transportation issues meant that sometimes Maya could only come to school for a partial day, or not at all—so Ms. Erin, the CISTN program manager at Alex Green, stepped in to help the family find a better solution.

After talking with the family, Ms. Erin discovered that Maya does have an older sibling who attends the same school, and the parents wanted to pick them both up at once. However, Maya’s Pre-K classes wrapped up an hour earlier than her sibling’s did, so she needed someone to watch her until her older sibling got out of class—and Ms. Erin was up for the job! 

Every afternoon after Pre-K lets out, Ms. Erin helps Maya with her homework until the other classes end for the day. Maya has also been teaching Ms. Erin a few things about American Sign Language (ASL), which Maya is fluent in! Their afternoons aren’t all work and no play, however: the Pre-K student also loves building skyscrapers out of Lego blocks once she’s done with her homework.

Once classes are over, Maya’s parents pick up her and her sibling at once and drive them home. Because of Ms. Erin, Maya can now spend the whole day in school, and her parents only have to coordinate one pick-up time. With the help of CISTN, everybody wins!