Are you overlooking the "hidden gems" in your own backyard? While many auxiliary programs stick to traditional campus-bound models, the most innovative revenue streams often lie in unique local partnerships. Using a real-world case study of a groundbreaking collaboration between Chadwick School and AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, this session explores how to identify and vet non-traditional partners that align with your school’s mission.
We will pull back the curtain on the "messy" side of innovation: navigating complex local governance, managing risk in unconventional environments, and—most importantly—winning over a skeptical Board of Trustees. Attendees will move beyond the theory of "networking" to learn a tactical framework for building partnerships that provide students with world-class experiences while diversifying the school’s auxiliary portfolio. Learn how to turn your local geography into your greatest programmatic asset.
Director of Auxiliary and Innovative Programs, Chadwick School
Director of Chadwick Summer Programs since 2017, and Director of Auxiliary and Innovative Programs since 2023, Kevin continues to innovate and think outside the box at Chadwick School. His latest venture is a partnership between Chadwick School and AltaSea, a unique public-private... Read More →
Budget Quest is back - this time with a staff hiring focus! Dive into an interactive simulation with others where you’ll be handed a budget, a program, and the challenge to spend smart and win big. How can you optimize your hiring needs and spending strategies? Debate the merits of age and experience for various roles as you race to ensure legal compliance and maximum impact. How does the cost of additional training and certifications impact your community and your payroll budget? What specialized programs are worth their staffing and certification costs? When is a “warm body” all that you really need? We’ll share tips and lessons learned (sometimes the hard way!) from decades of summer staff hiring along the way. Will your program come out on top of the bottom line?
This session is a unique opportunity to bring your Business Office partners to explore the “other” side of summer staff hiring!
Director of Operations and Auxiliary Programs, St. Mark's School
Educator. Camp Aficionado. Seeker of Joy. Lover of all things Logistical.
20+ years of experience in the summer camp/out-of-school time/enrichment/non-profit world. I find my flow doing whatever I can to support other people having their best experience - from concept to clean-up. My favorite role is creating magical and memorable experiences as part of... Read More →
Auxiliary programs often run efficiently behind the scenes, but what families truly experience is how easy, clear, and supportive those systems feel. This session will highlight how small, intentional systems can transform the parent experience from simply functional to exceptional. Through real examples attendees will learn how to improve communication, reduce confusion, and create a more organized, parent-friendly experience. Walk away with practical, replicable strategies to elevate your program and build lasting trust with families.
Building a thriving auxiliary program requires more than operational expertise—it demands leadership, diplomacy, and resilience. This session explores the real-world challenges one auxiliary director faced in establishing credibility at a new school, including the work of educating faculty and staff on what auxiliary actually does and navigating resistance from colleagues. We'll examine strategies for driving meaningful and strategic change and how to audit existing programming through a mission-alignment lens to ensure every offering reflects the school's core values. Add to this an unexpected departure at the Head of School level and a construction project that eliminated 25% of campus overnight, and you have a true stress test for any auxiliary program. Come ready for an honest conversation about leading through ambiguity.
Auxiliary leaders regularly make decisions that impact hiring, supervision, performance management, and employee retention, but many have never received formal training in employment law. This practical session will explore the legal considerations that arise throughout the employee lifecycle, from recruiting and interviewing to onboarding, documentation, evaluations, discipline, and separation. You'll also examine policies, handbooks, wage and hour considerations, and common pitfalls that can expose schools to unnecessary risk. Designed specifically for independent school auxiliary programs, this session will provide practical guidance and real-world examples to help you build strong teams, make informed decisions, and confidently navigate challenging personnel situations.
Building on the recent success of Pop Ups at Pine Crest School, we launched "Maymester Pop Ups"—a month-long series of Pop Ups in May. This initiative served a dual purpose: internally advertising our summer programs and acting as a concrete example of pivoting on success. The school has consistently found Pop Ups, which are single events requiring minimal time commitment, to be highly effective for encouraging faculty and students to explore new activities.
Camp staffing can be one of the biggest headaches for Auxiliary Departments, with yearly turnover and significant needs across the board. This session will take you through the full cycle of camp hiring, from budget projections and compensation to onboarding/orientation, with a look at returning staff outreach and retention, as well as job posting and interviewing for new staff. We will take a look at what has worked well for The Berkeley Carroll School, and how we have shifted our process in the face of new staffing challenges. After a deep dive into our process, we will shift to a roundtable discussion where schools can share what has worked for them and where there have been difficulties.
Join the dynamic (and occasionally discordant) duo of Dan O’Neil and Bob Rojee as they return to the SPARC stage for the second edition of this fan-favorite session. Inspired by the rapid-fire pace of sports talk media, Dan and Bob will dive headfirst into the world of Auxiliary Programs, covering everything from summer programs and school stores to facility rentals and auxiliary revenue.
Expect a high-energy atmosphere as they discuss, disagree, and joke their way through our industry's most pressing "Hot Takes." No topic is off-limits, and no consensus is guaranteed. Plus, new for this year: we’re taking it to the next level with a very special remote guest joining us for our own version of "Five Good Minutes." Whether you’re here for the expert insights or the inevitable banter, you won’t want to miss this sequel!
Bob Rojee, SPARC Sr. Advisor, is a seasoned leader with more than 30 years of experience in youth and staff development, recreational operations, and auxiliary program management. He has built and directed successful auxiliary programs from the ground up at multiple independent... Read More →
Join the Dynamic Duo and explore the relationship between CFO and Auxiliary Director. Together we will discuss ways to approach new ideas, budgets, and more! Learn to speak the language of finance to secure the resources your programs deserve. Whether you are pitching a high-risk pilot program or refining your auxiliary budget, you will leave with a framework for interpreting data that aligns with your CFO’s expectations and have fun during the process!
Whether you're contracting with vendors, renting facilities, partnering with outside organizations, or launching new programs, every agreement carries legal and financial implications. This session will provide a practical framework for evaluating contracts and understanding the provisions that matter most, including indemnification, insurance requirements, liability limitations, cancellation terms, payment provisions, and risk allocation. Participants will learn what to look for before signing agreements, when to seek additional legal review, and how thoughtful contract management can protect both their programs and their schools. Leave with a stronger understanding of common contract provisions and greater confidence in navigating agreements that support successful auxiliary operations while minimizing institutional risk.
Ever feel like you’re losing your mind trying to run an auxiliary program all by yourself? Step into our kitchen and discover how to turn the chaos into a well-balanced, crowd-pleasing recipe for success. This session is designed for after-school and summer camp professionals working as a “party of one,” and we’re serving up practical strategies with a fun, food-inspired twist. You’ll learn how to stay organized, reduce stress, and keep your program running smoothly. Expect a full menu of tips, tricks, and time-saving tools you can actually use.
In today’s fast-paced educational environments, leadership cannot live in an office—it must be visible, relational, and responsive. Boots on the Ground Leadership challenges leaders to move beyond theory and into daily, intentional practices that strengthen culture, increase staff commitment, and improve operational flow.
This interactive session is designed for early childhood, auxiliary and school leaders who are ready to lead alongside their teams, not above them. Participants will explore what it means to be a present, people-centered leader while still maintaining high expectations and operational excellence. Through real-life scenarios, reflective moments, and collaborative discussion, attendees will leave with practical strategies to build trust, reduce staff burnout, and create environments where both children and adults thrive.
Have you noticed your camp enrollment trending younger? Designing programs that appeal to older middle school students (Grades 7–9) can be a challenge—but with the right framing and strategic partnerships, you can capture this elusive demographic. In this session, Jim Patterson (Harvard Westlake) and Kat Yorks (Lakeside School) will share how they developed offerings that resonate with older students, including programs like Entrepreneurship Camp, Leadership Lab, and AI Innovators. You’ll learn how to leverage existing programs, faculty expertise, and community connections to expand and “level up” your current offerings. Participants will gain insight into our design process and leave with practical strategies for reimagining existing camps—or identifying untapped strengths within their own teams—to better engage older middle schoolers.
Director of Summer Programs & College Essay Specialist, Lakeside School
Kat Yorks is Lakeside School’s Director of Summer Programs, developing and overseeing their many summer offerings, from Upper School courses to middle school STEAM and athletics camps. She has also taught Upper School English for nearly twenty years at independent schools, including... Read More →
Transforming a summer or auxiliary program into a thriving, revenue-generating, mission-aligned operation does not happen in isolation. It requires a coalition of people, perspectives, and strategic buy-in across an organization. This dynamic panel brings together business partners, CFOs, community engagement leaders, and experienced summer and auxiliary directors to explore not only how to build successful program but also, when it’s time to rethink them.
What is the threshold for change when revenue plateaus or declines and pressure mounts to grow? When do you iterate, and when do you rebuild? Through candid conversation and real-world examples, panelists will share how they’ve navigated these inflection points, aligned stakeholders, and made strategic decisions that led to renewed growth.
When did you last walk out of a conversation with senior leadership feeling like they truly understood what your programs are doing for the school? The work is there and the value is real. What's often missing is the translation - from the operational language auxiliary leaders live in to the strategic language senior leaders listen for. This session closes that gap.
Using a three-lens framework (financial sustainability, mission alignment, and leadership quality) we will examine how senior leaders actually evaluate auxiliary programs and assess how clearly you are currently communicating across all three. Through a structured self-assessment and peer exchange, attendees will identify their specific communication gaps and leave with a practical toolkit for translating their work into strategic value: whether they are a department of one or lead a team of ten. Let's ensure the programs you've built get the recognition, resources, and advocacy they've already earned!
Director of Auxiliary Programs, Open window School
Euan Oswald is the Director of Auxiliary Programs at Open Window School in Bellevue, WA, where he has led the school’s after school enrichment, extended day, summer, athletics, and transportation programs for over 11 years. Euan facilitates auxiliary program roundtables for the... Read More →
You've claimed your seat at the table. Now what do you do with it?
This session picks up where advanced leadership conversations leave off–moving beyond the mechanics of institutional influence and into the harder, quieter work of sustaining it. Designed for auxiliary professionals who have already begun operating at a strategic level, this workshop confronts challenges such as maintaining credibility through leadership transitions, advocating for your division when the institutional winds shift, and deciding what kind of leader you actually want to become.
Together we will wrestle with the ambiguities of senior leadership: when to push and when to hold, how to protect your team's culture while absorbing institutional change, and how to build a professional legacy that outlasts any single program or position.Because the most sophisticated leadership skill isn't getting to the executive level. It's knowing what to do once you get there. During this session we will explore how to: - Sustain strategic influence through administrative turnover and shifting institutional priorities - Lead auxiliary divisions through organizational change without losing program integrity or team trust - Translate auxiliary program outcomes into language that resonates with boards, heads of school, and accreditation bodies - Navigate the tension between division loyalty and institution-wide responsibility - Define and communicate your own leadership identity beyond your program's metrics - Build a professional legacy through intentional mentorship, knowledge transfer, and field contribution
Free play gives children a chance to work on their decision making, self regulation, friendships, personal interests and more! So much of a child's life is structured that they can easily miss out on the benefits of what it's like to manage your own time. Many kids know exactly what they want to do when school is out and many others are happy to do what their friends want to do. Some kids even feel bored when they don't have things scheduled for them AND THAT IS GREAT! All children are infinitely creative and as adults, we need to know when to back off and let their brains do some of this critical work. As teachers and program directors, there is a temptation to fill all of our kids' days with fun activities, check ins, social emotional programming and more, but in this case, less can be more! There is certainly a place for programming after school but it's not the only thing we should be doing for our kids. They need freedom, choice, boredom, risk, adventure, friendships and more that they can get naturally just by being in proximity with other kids.
Dan has been working at Durham Academy since 2004, Directing the Extended Day Program since 2007 and was the Director of Summer Programs for 9 years. He currently serves as a member of the schools Leadership Team and has also been a Teaching Assistant in 4th grade, a member of the... Read More →
Understanding your true cost per camper is one of the most powerful—and most overlooked—drivers of a successful auxiliary program. In this session, we’ll unpack what “cost per camper” really means, why it matters, and how it directly impacts pricing, staffing, and long-term sustainability.
Using real-world examples, we’ll demonstrate how staffing patterns, program design, and camper movement throughout the day influence your true costs in ways that traditional budgeting often misses. Participants will gain insight into how to begin building a more accurate financial picture of their programs, even in complex, multi-offering environments. This session will provide practical frameworks and starting points to help directors move from estimation to informed decision-making—ultimately strengthening both program quality and financial performance.
We help your spreadsheets become faster, better, and more fun! Simplify schedules, automate reporting, and feel more organized! We also provide tailored training for your unique spreadsheet needs.
In an increasingly isolated and screen-driven world, Gen Alpha needs intentional opportunities to connect, collaborate, and communicate in meaningful ways.
This session brings educators and camp leaders together to explore how we can design programs that foster real connection using students’ existing interests as a bridge to deeper engagement and skill-building. We’ll break down practical strategies that can be applied across classrooms, camps, and enrichment spaces. Together, we’ll examine how to move students from passive consumption to active participation, and how to structure experiences that build collaboration, communication, and confidence.
Auxiliary programs come in all shapes and sizes. We have been (and will continue to be) inspired by big programs at big schools/camps generating big revenue numbers. What about the smaller programs at smaller schools/camps with smaller revenue numbers? Or those that find themselves squarely in the center of the pack? Is bigger always better? Do size and scale dictate what is considered a success?
In this session, we’ll examine how we determine what “success” means. Besides revenue, what are other measures of success? This is an opportunity for auxiliary leaders to think critically about their work and take pride in their efforts, no matter the size of their department, facility, or portfolio. Participants are encouraged to come with an example of a win to share–a win of any size or scope. As a next step, we’ll discuss how size does not have to hamper our entrepreneurial spirit and ability to grow.
In the competitive summer camp market how do you make your camp memorable? How do you keep families coming back year after year? How do you keep families engaged all year round?
Join me for a fun and interactive presentation on how to keep your campers (and their families) returning to you for years to come!
Come learn and discuss how to engrain your auxiliary programming into the fiber of your school's culture. Auxiliary programming can absolutely serve as a core component of student education beyond the traditional classroom, but only if you show the value to leadership and build community opportunities around it. We will discuss how to utilize programming, culminating events, and regular enrichment classes to contribute to the culture of your school in a positive way.
Join us for a fun and informative session where we’ll introduce our new Camp Assistant program. Our CAs are not just volunteers; they’re role models, leaders, and a vital part of creating a fun, safe, and memorable experience for every camper. We’ll cover everything from the application process, teacher recommendations, the interview, and the leadership skills and training we provided. We’ll also give you a sneak peek at our first annual Summer Bash Open House, an exciting, free event where families got to meet staff, get familiar with campus, and experience carnival-themed games and snacks. As part of their training, CAs helped run the event, welcoming families and representing our program with confidence. By the end of the session, you’ll have a clear picture of how our CA program builds leadership, responsibility, and real-world experience while helping create a summer our campers will never forget.
What makes sleep-away camp so memorable, and how can independent schools bring that same sense of belonging, joy, and growth into their day camp programs? In this session, we’ll explore some core elements that make camp experiences truly meaningful and translate them into practical strategies for day-camp camps in the independent school setting.
Together, we’ll dig into how to build strong relationships with campers, create intentional traditions, design “wow” moments that kids remember, and foster independence, confidence, and creativity for both campers and staff. We’ll also look at how staff energy, camp culture, and transition unscheduled time shape the overall experience.This session will leave participants with concrete tools and fresh ideas to elevate engagement, deepen connections, and make camp feel purposeful and aligned with our schools’ own missions.
How do you grow your programs without overloading your staff? This session shares a practical approach to balancing teacher-led and vendor-led offerings. Using a two-year example, we’ll show how shifting vendors into summer and focusing teachers on school-year enrichment reduced burnout, avoided repeated classes, and improved enrollment.
You’ll gain insight into what makes a school a strong partner, common communication breakdowns, and key questions to ask vendors before partnering. We’ll also explore why some teachers thrive in enrichment, how vendors can complement faculty strengths, and best practices that support smooth operations and student safety. Walk away with clear strategies for using the right people at the right time to build a strong, sustainable program.
Successful facility rental programs require more than contracts and payments. They depend on strong internal coordination and operational alignment across the school community. This session will explore best practices for managing the day-to-day operations of school facility rentals, including creating centralized calendars, integrating rental scheduling with student information systems, establishing internal approval workflows, and improving communication between departments. Attendees will learn how to streamline coordination among athletics, facilities, security, custodial teams, and school leadership to reduce conflicts and deliver a seamless rental experience for both staff and external clients. The session will also cover operational processes that help schools stay organized, minimize disruptions to campus activities, and build confidence internally as rental programs grow.
Every enrichment director in this room has watched it happen — kids who can't sit with boredom, can't tolerate discomfort, can't put the phone down. The research is finally catching up to what we've known for years. At Park School, we stopped waiting for a solution and built one: we brought in Fire & Knives, a structured outdoor skills program centered on fire safety, knife handling, and real competence-building. No screens. No passive learning. Just kids doing hard things and discovering they're capable of them.
This SPARCburst is part cultural diagnosis, part field report — what we saw in our students, what parents said, and what we'd tell any enrichment director thinking about doing the same.
Every auxiliary director wants their program to be a place where all children can thrive, yet providing meaningful support often remains a lofty goal rather than a logistical reality. The biggest hurdle is properly training seasonal staff on complex neurodiversity and disability support in just a day or two before camp begins.
In this session, Drew Mackay (Camp Director at Beauvoir) shares his program’s journey of partnering with Litix to move beyond standard staff training. You will learn how Beauvoir and Litix worked together to implement online and in-person training to ensure every staff member is confident and equipped with the tools and resources to support campers with diverse needs. We will also explore how to bridge the gap between enrollment and the first day of camp by optimizing registration processes and family communication. By gathering more robust, specific information during the intake phase, camps can better prepare their teams and ensure they have the necessary context to support each camper, the moment they arrive.
Schools today face risks across multiple fronts — and those risks don't stop at the campus gate. From physical threats on school grounds to cybercrime, white-collar fraud, and the challenges students and staff encounter when they travel or move through the broader community, the threat environment is wide and constantly evolving.
This session provides a clear, practical overview of how these risks develop, how small gaps in awareness or preparation can compound into serious incidents, and how early intervention changes outcomes. Participants will leave with a stronger foundation in situational awareness — learning to read environments, assess the behavior of individuals they encounter, and apply sound digital and cyber safety practices, and travel safety as part of a unified, coordinated approach to school safety. The goal is straightforward: reduce exposure, improve response, and deliver training that protects both people and the institutions responsible for them — on campus and off.
We will cover what it actually means to give your AI context so it understands your role, your school, and your work without you having to re-explain it every time. We will move beyond basic chat to using real tools: building a webpage, creating marketing collateral, drafting communications, and more. And we will talk about how to think about AI agents, what they are, what tools they can access, and how to point them at work that actually matters to you. Bring your laptop. We will work in Claude and ChatGPT.
Have you ever thought about opening up your afterschool and/or summer programming to students from outside of your school? In this session, we will share an example of how one school does this and all of the reasons why it enhances your program and school community.
How can strategic game play help students build the skills they need for success in school and life? In this engaging, hands-on workshop, educators will explore how games can be powerful tools for developing critical 21st century skills such as problem-solving, decision-making, resilience, metacognition, and executive functioning. Through Nexplore’s signature Games Methodology (Play. Learn. Apply.), participants will experience how mind and strategy games teach students how to think, not what to think.
Attendees will learn the educational rationale behind using enrichment to support the whole child, participate in interactive game-based activities using tools such as Rush Hour and Quoridor, and discover practical strategies to transfer learning from game play into academic content and real-life situations. Participants will leave with a ready-to-use toolbox of activities and techniques to strengthen student engagement, social-emotional growth, and future-ready thinking skills in the classroom.
Nexplore is a national enrichment service provider with a mission to foster the joy of learning through a wide range of over 125+ STEAM, Life Skills, and Fitness solutions.
Currently, Nexplore proudly offers programs at over 1000 sites across the US, successfully serving thousan... Read More →
Auxiliary leaders juggle a constant flow of moving parts—staffing, student behavior, enrichment quality, family communication, and facility logistics. But too often, critical details get lost in the day-to-day rush, making it hard to identify patterns or prevent recurring issues. In this session, we introduce The Captain’s Log: a simple but powerful system for capturing daily program insights in a consistent, team-driven way. Learn how to document what actually matters—from student behavior trends and staff performance to program popularity and scheduling conflicts—without creating extra administrative burden. Participants will leave with a practical framework for building a shared logging system that improves communication, strengthens decision-making, and turns scattered observations into clear, actionable data across their Auxiliary programs.
Transportation is one of the most underestimated variables in auxiliary program success — a hidden cost center that can quietly erode margins, create serious liability exposure, and shape whether families enroll in your summer or afterschool program at all. In this candid panel conversation, Heather Murphy joins a strategist from the ground transportation and charter logistics sector to pull back the curtain on what's actually happening when independent schools try to move students safely, efficiently, and profitably. Together, they'll explore what works, where schools consistently overpay or under-plan, and the operational and risk realities most auxiliary directors never see until it's too late. This isn't a theoretical overview — it's an honest reckoning with a challenge thattouches enrollment, revenue, risk management, and the family experience. You'll leave with a clearer framework for evaluating your current approach and knowing exactly where to look for improvement.
Registration systems are often viewed simply as tools for collecting enrollments, but when used strategically, they can become powerful partners in managing and growing auxiliary and summer programs. For professionals new to auxiliary programs, understanding the full capabilities of a registration platform can significantly improve efficiency and program operations.
In this collaborative session, auxiliary program leadership and CampBrain will share practical examples of how a strong partnership between program administrators and a registration provider can streamline workflows, improve communication, and support data-driven decision-making. Participants will explore real-world uses of CampBrain features such as custom reporting and data management that help reduce administrative burden and improve operational visibility. The session will also acknowledge the realities of working with registration platforms, including common challenges, while highlighting the value of responsive customer support and collaborative problem-solving. Attendees will leave with actionable ideas to better leverage their registration systems and strengthen their partnership with their software provider.
