Welcome to the WJUSD After School Education and Safety, ASES, Program website. ASES Programs are in operation at eight of our elementary school sites: Beamer, Dingle, Freeman, Maxwell, Plainfield, Tafoya, Whitehead, and Woodland Prairie. You can go immediately to the site by clicking the links on the left side.

While each school has an individual program, there are a number of things we hold in common. It is a state requirement that we have both  academic and enrichment activities, that we operate every regular school day, including minimum days, from immediately after school for no less than three hours and until at least 6:00 pm. It is a state expectation that elementary students attend the complete session every day.

Every school has a homework period, a music class, which includes all ASES students, a variety of recreation and enrichment activities, and a daily snack. We are in the process of developing an ASES Soccer League and plan on including a Basketball League.

The ASES Program has used the 'Rational Discipline'  system for the past two years. Fundamentally the idea is to get the student to take responsibility for their words and actions and to become involved in their own education. If you're interested, the links page for the 'Conditions for Learning' website offers a fuller explanation and you can see the presentation we recommend for all our new staff under the ASES tab.

This year we introduced Project Based Learning, PBL, for the ASES Program. One of the major questions students and tutors ask is 'what can I do when my homework is finished?' PBL offers a great opportunity to do something fun and constructive in answer to this question. It also allows students to work together, form their own questions, and do their own research. When projects are completed, the group gives a presentation to their parents to show what they've learned.