Building the Future of Expanded Learning, Together
Expanded learning leaders have spent the past year doing what they always do: building something meaningful while solving a hundred moving pieces behind the scenes.
They launched programs, expanded access, supported students and families, coordinated providers, prepared for audits, tracked attendance, managed registration, engaged families, trained staff, and kept students at the center of it all. This work is big. It is daily. It is detailed. And it matters.
At 6crickets, we are honored to support the districts, schools, providers, and expanded learning teams doing this work. Our mission has always been to help close the opportunity gap by giving education leaders the tools they need to bring high-quality expanded learning to every student in every school.
But the best way to understand its impact is not through us. It is through the words of the leaders who live it every day.
Throughout the year, our partners shared what changed for their teams, their families, their providers, and their students. Their words tell a story of programs becoming more organized, more accessible, more compliant, and more sustainable. Most importantly, they tell a story of expanded learning leaders gaining more time and confidence to focus on what matters most: students.
From Complexity and Legacy Systems to Clarity and Modernization
For many expanded learning teams, one of the biggest shifts this year was moving away from disconnected tools, manual workarounds, paper forms, spreadsheets, and systems that were not built for the full complexity of expanded learning.
That shift may sound operational, but anyone who has run a program knows it is much more than that. When registration, attendance, reporting, family communication, provider coordination, and audit preparation live in too many places, the work becomes harder to manage and harder to scale. Time that could be spent improving programs gets swallowed by manual tracking, searching for information, and piecing together reports from multiple systems.
Justin Locketz, Expanded Learning Coordinator at Natomas Unified School District, described just how dramatic that difference can be during a state audit. He shared that 6crickets reduced his audit timeline from three to four hours to about 15 minutes, allowing him to return all of the district’s audit requests to the analyst the same day. As he put it, “you guys decreased my audit timeline.”
For some districts, the challenge was also trying to make systems built for student information serve the unique needs of expanded learning. Dr. Heather Gold, Chief Learning Officer at Gateway Community Charters, described that experience candidly. As she shared, “You try to get your SIS to create something different for your supplemental attendance. Trust me, we tried, it’s not happening.” She contrasted that with working alongside 6crickets, sharing that the team was “willing to build the report that we need” and “willing to build the system that we need.”
Aaron Tolliver, ELOP Coordinator at Vacaville Unified School District, described the change clearly. Before implementing 6crickets, his team was “using Google Forms and trying to track everything,” and when it came down to audits, “it was almost impossible.” With 6crickets, he shared, “it really streamlined our organization.” His summary was simple: “it’s been an absolute game changer.”
For Fairfax School District, the move to 6crickets came from a different set of operational challenges. Jennifer Davis, Administrator of Expanded Learning, explained that their previous system was too narrowly focused and didn’t support the broader needs of a school district. Because it didn’t sync with the district’s SIS, families had to re-enter student information, often resulting in inaccurate data. That, in turn, required staff to manually enter or correct student information for accurate rostering, attendance, and reporting. She also shared that parents had no way to confirm enrollment on their own, leaving staff to answer parent calls and manually communicate enrollment status.
Kim Nichols, Expanded Learning Coordinator at Gustine Unified School District, described the same kind of relief. “I no longer have to deal with stacks of paper or find storage for paper applications,” she shared. Looking back, she said, “This is probably the best step I ever took for starting this program—trying to make life easier for not just me but everybody else.”
That is what stronger operations make possible. When the work behind expanded learning becomes simpler to manage, teams have more time to support families, strengthen programs, and focus on the students they serve.
Stronger Systems, Stronger Confidence
Expanded learning is joyful work, but it is also high-stakes work. Districts need accurate attendance. They need reliable registration records. They need documentation that supports ELO-P, ASES, Attendance Recovery, audits, and evolving state reporting requirements.
That is why stronger systems matter.
Melissa Hawkins, Director of Educational Systems at Lindsay Unified School District, shared, “6crickets has enabled Lindsay Unified to meet the compliance requirements of multiple programs within a single, streamlined platform.” She also noted, “The 6crickets team consistently monitors and adapts to state reporting changes, ensuring ongoing alignment with evolving requirements.”
Jocelyn Fricke, ELOP Coordinator at Castaic Union School District, described one of the biggest benefits as how 6crickets “simplifies data tracking and compliance reporting,” making “record-keeping a breeze.”
Erie Robertson, Director of ELO-P at Lancaster School District, put the attendance benefit simply: “It makes our attendance record keeping perfect and easy.”
These are not just administrative wins. They are sustainability wins. When data is organized and accessible, districts can protect funding, respond to audits, understand participation, and make better decisions. Strong systems help expanded learning leaders move from reacting to leading.
An Ecosystem Solution that Includes Families, Staff, and Community Partners
Expanded learning works best when every part of the experience is seamlessly connected. District teams need reliable information. Providers need tools that are easy to manage. Site staff need quick access to student details. Families need registration and pickup to feel simple, not stressful.
That experience came through again and again in this year’s testimonials.
Rochelle Tawiah, Coordinator of Educational Services at Perris Elementary School District, shared that the platform “has made it much easier for our district staff, third-party providers, and families to access the information and resources they need.” Parents, she noted, appreciate “the simple registration process and the ability to navigate the system with ease,” while providers benefit from “efficient program management and communication tools.”
Amber Villaseñor, Director of Operations at the Boys & Girls Club of La Habra, described the experience from a community partner’s perspective. As opportunities through ELOP expanded, she shared, “Through our partnership, our district’s ELOP Director and I worked hand-in-hand with 6crickets to digitize and streamline registration, creating a unified system across all seven school sites.”
Christi Mayberry, Expanded Learning Coordinator at Visalia Unified, described 6crickets this way: “It’s easy to use. It’s parent-friendly.” Antje Meithe, After School Program Support Specialist at Marysville JUSD, echoed that experience, sharing, “Parents love it, it’s easy, it’s quick, and all the information you need is right there at your fingertips.”
Isabel and Ariana, Site Coordinators at Lowell Joint School District, described what that looks like in practice. They shared that 6crickets “helps us really keep track of our students” and gives families an easier way to access the system and check their students out during pickup. Their summary was simple: “Parents, staff, we all love 6crickets.”
That kind of usability matters in expanded learning. When the system is easier for everyone using it, the day runs more smoothly, families feel more confident, and staff can stay focused on supporting students.
Expanding Programming, Access and Equity
Equity in expanded learning starts with access. Families need to be able to find programs, register with ease, and reach the opportunities districts are working so hard to provide. This year, our partners described how stronger systems helped make that access more practical.
Dr. Jacob Muniz, Coordinator of Expanded Learning Programs at El Monte City School District, described parent-friendly enrollment as an important part of expanding access. As he shared, “By working with my team to make enrollment more parent-friendly we have increased access and equity across the board.”
Kirsten Knapp, Director of ELO-P at Desert Sands USD, pointed to one practical way districts can reach priority students first. Because 6crickets connects to the SIS, districts can identify priority students and open registration in phases. As Kirsten shared, “you can set priority registration for your unduplicated because it connects to the SIS” and “it automatically knows who your priority students are.”
For families, those operational decisions become real opportunities.
Michelle Graham from San Bruno Park School District described what happens when access becomes easier for families and providers. She shared that she had “all these parents who are thrilled” and that “these providers now have full classes.” The result is more students reaching more opportunities, which Michelle summed up simply: “It’s amazing.”
When access is easier to manage, opportunity becomes easier to deliver. Families can register with less friction. Districts can prioritize the students they most want to reach. Providers can fill classes. And more students can experience programs they may not have been able to access otherwise.
A Partnership That Grows With the Work
If there is one message that came through most strongly this year, it is that districts do not just need software. They need a partner.
Across districts, leaders described 6crickets not only as a platform, but as a team that listens, responds, adapts, and grows with the work. Expanded learning is still evolving, and districts need tools and partners that can evolve with them.
Dr. Heather Gold, Chief Learning Officer at Gateway Community Charters, summed up that partnership simply. “So for us, there’s not a better partnership,” she said. “I think that’s what makes them a perfect partner for us, is that they are flexible, they’re adaptable.”
That same responsiveness showed up in the day-to-day experience. Nicole Duran, Academic Program Manager at Gateway Community Charters, shared, “I’ve been impressed with their quick response to emails and how they always come prepared with helpful ideas and solutions during our check-ins.”
Ruben Samaniego, ELOP Coordinator at Chula Vista School District, captured the feeling behind that support. For him, “the reason why I love 6crickets is because of their customer service.” He described a team that would “work with you” and “walk you through the steps,” creating what he called “the 6crickets family feeling.”
Amber Villaseñor, Director of Operations at the Boys & Girls Club of La Habra, described how that partnership continued as ELOP expanded. She shared that “The support team, engineers, and Helen herself were always responsive and willing to adapt the platform,” helping the system fit what worked best for each school community.
This is the kind of partnership expanded learning deserves: responsive, practical, innovative, and focused on helping districts build what students and families need.
The Big Takeaway
Together, this year’s testimonials reveal the impact of expanded learning leaders working to create more opportunities for students.
They tell the story of districts creating order where there was once complexity. Of leaders finding better ways to serve families. Of providers, schools, and district teams working together more seamlessly. Of expanded learning becoming more connected, more accessible, and more sustainable.
But beneath every improvement is something even more important.
It is the work of people who believe every student deserves a place to belong after the school day ends.
People who spend countless hours planning, adapting, solving problems, supporting families, coordinating partners, and finding a way to make one more opportunity possible for one more child.
That is the work we have the privilege of witnessing every day.
To every district, school, provider, and expanded learning leader who invited us into that work this year, thank you.
Thank you for trusting us with your ideas, your challenges, your questions, your feature requests, and your partnership. Thank you for expecting more from us. Every conversation has made our platform stronger and helped us better serve the communities we share.
Your testimonials are deeply meaningful to us, not because they celebrate 6crickets, but because they reflect what you have built. They are a reminder that behind every registration, every attendance record, every report, and every improvement is a student who found a place to learn, discover, create, connect, and belong.
That is why we keep building.
Thank you for letting us build alongside you.
Contact
Interested in exploring how 6crickets can support streamlined registration, attendance, reporting, and equitable access in your expanded learning programs?
info@6crickets.com | [Schedule a conversation]
Yours in Education,
6crickets Team
