Frequently Asked Questions

BE GREAT Academy programs are located within the schools themselves, along with a few community centers.  We partner with the schools to use their facilities to reduce the amount of travel and provide a service that is convenient for families and both safe & comfortable for members.

Yes, one hour of program time is dedicated to homework Monday – Thursday and our staff & volunteers are there to assist, if needed.  We will allow outside tutors to come to the program, but they will have to complete the screening process we use for employees before they can interact with any child in our program.

 

The Parent Portal is your place to manage your account with BE GREAT Academy. Find out pricing, locations, enroll for services and make payments all in one convenient spot.

New parents, please visit the Locations page. Choose your county to be taken to your Parent Portal. Then create an account, choose enroll and selection the desired location and services.

Returning parents, please log in to your account in our Parent Portal, then select “Enroll my child” and choose the desired location and services.

If you are having difficulty please contact Member Services at 803-231-3300.

 

Yes, please select the appropriate discount when you enroll your child.

If you are having difficulty please contact Member Services at 803-231-3300.

We understand that sometimes things happen and BE GREAT Academy acts as a Safe Harbor for students who are not picked up from school. We allow one free visit, but require the parent to pay for a daily package after the first occurrence.

There is an initial $25 registration fee to enroll. Your daily fee will be based on the market rate at your location minus any discounts or reduced rates for which you qualify.  A non-refundable payment for the first day of services is due in order to complete your registration.

Yes, for qualifying families. You simply choose the rate you qualify for.  Upon enrollment, fax the required documents to our secure fax line (1.803. 675.0475) or bring the required documents to our Service Center to verify your rate. You are awarded the rate immediately upon enrollment, but must provide verification of the rate within five business days.  If you do not verify the reduced rate, you give BGC permission to recoup the difference between the market rate and the rate you choose.

 You can determine if you qualify for a lower rate by visiting our website or contacting Member Services at 803-231-3300.

No, we offer flexible plans. We have three types of school care: After School Care, Before School Care (7 AM drop off) and Early Bird Care (5 AM drop off). You can choose either weekly or drop-in for each of these services.

For parents needing care for in-service days, the best option is to be a drop-in participant.

If you need further assistance, please contact Member Services at 803-231-3300.

If you are currently in a service and wish to switch to another, please call or email your Account Representative to remove you from the service you no longer need. This does not apply to withdrawing from the service. Please call our Service Center at 803-231-3300 for assistance.

Boys & Girls Clubs of the Crescent Region (BGCCR) is a member organization of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Some of our programs have been developed and field tested for the Clubs by experts at BGCA before being rolled out to local clubs like BGCCR.  Many of our programs are developed specifically for BE GREAT Academy by our Curriculum team. All programs are designed to be age appropriate, purposeful and fun.  Programs are evaluated on a yearly basis to determine whether they are still fun, effective, and relevant. New programs are added as needed.

BGCCR is a member organization of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. We follow their programs that have been developed and field tested for the Clubs by experts before being rolled out to local clubs like BGCCR.  All programs are designed to be age appropriate, purposeful and fun. Boys & Girls Clubs of America was ranked the No. 1 among youth organizations for the 15th consecutive year by The Chronicle of Philanthropy Report on the efficient use of financial resources.

The best way for you to see what activities are being done at the Club is to visit! Parents & prospective parents are always welcome to visit a site and chat with a Campus Director.  Taking a look at our social media pages will also give you a glimpse of the types of activities we do on a daily basis.

At our program:

After completing their homework and getting a nutritious snack, your child can choose between over 15 programs each week that focus on 6 core areas: Leadership & Service, Education & STEM, College & Career, Sports & Recreation, Health & Wellness and the Arts.  Programs offered include intramural sports leagues (i.e. flag football, dodge ball), computer literacy, drama clubs, science & engineering, and leadership/community service group clubs. Visit the Programs tab to read more about our curriculum.

BGCCR wants every child to have fun and learn. We average 15 members to one staff member.  Parents rate our staff as very professional and always energized.

 

Yes! We take the following steps to make sure the staff and volunteers are the right people to care for your children.

All adults that interact with our participants go through a thorough screening process that includes reference checks, a national background check, and a sex offender registry check. All adults go through this process annually. This includes both staff and volunteers.

All of our staff goes through intensive youth development and safety trainings to ensure your child’s experience is both fun and safe.  Each staff is required to complete a minimum of 15 hours of professional development annually. Staff is offered a wide range of trainings, including: Classroom Management; Curriculum; Effective Program Implementation; Pediatric CPR/First Aid/AED; Purposeful Play; Recognizing and Reporting Suspected Child Abuse; Emergency Preparedness; Inclusion; Essentials of Outdoor Safety; Responding to Medical Emergencies, on a regular basis.  Staff must also attend our semi-annual All Staff trainings in February & August.

Yes. Staff must complete certification as part of the new hire process and must re-certify every 3 years.

Our field trips during the school year are limited. Most of our field trips occur during the summer when we offer weekly trips at no additional cost.

Yes, we provide a USDA-approved healthy snack daily.

 

We allow high school students to volunteer at our programs.  They can apply by completing a volunteer application from our website and submit to our HR department.  Once they are screened and go through an orientation, they will be assigned to a program in their community.

Yes, the director of your program will be at the school registrations to meet parents and answer questions as well as register participants for the program.  However, we strongly recommend that you pre-register for the program prior to the school registrations because some of our sites have space limitations and fill up quickly.