school program staff

site coordinator

school teacher

camp counselor

early childhood teacher

Innovation-Learning

My time with IL, has been both educational and trying at times. I am more than grateful for the opportunities I was provided here and the fact I was given the chance to realize the career field I belong in. IL is definitely a growing company that is still working out the kinks and figuring out who they exactly want to be, but those growing pains are a little difficult to handle sometimes. I do truly believe this company will reach new heights and they have great potential to be a large successful organization, they just have to get over this current hurdle of growing smartly. 

There needs to be a deeper dive into departments that are over staffed and departments who have always been understaffed. You can’t truly support the staff if there aren’t enough support staff in place for those staff in the field. 

There are some amazing people working for this company and I really hope they start getting the recognition they deserve. It shouldn’t  be about “ loyalty” but rather about performance and the hard work they  produce. 

The culture is starting to shift and with the addition of the COO-Mr. Foster( because not sure of his real title). It’s clear he understands business and what needs to be done to build up a successful company with happy employees. With him leading the way I believe the company will continue to grow in a more positive way. The CEO just needs to make sure he steps back and lets him lead like he is suppose too. 

I have worked in almost every position you can think of for Innovation Learning, and no the job isn’t always easy and sometimes you feel defeated and forgotten about, but there are many positives for working with Innovation Learning and with the new management style, I believe some of those other negatives will start getting better as well. 

I may be leaving IL but this company and the amazing people in it will always hold a special place in my heart. Some of them may no longer be my coworkers soon but they will remain my good friends for a long time to come. 

I worked for IL for nearly 5 years. I went from teacher to State/Regional director in that time. I loved my job for most of the time. I watch the company continue to develop and make changes where they found issues. Though I did not always agree with the changes being made I do believe they care about the children they take care of. I grew and learned a lot from the upper management but I learned more from taking care of the children. The CEO, Brett, although prickly at times has a vision and the heart needed to lead the company. 

If you aren't there for the children don't apply. This job will eat you up if you can't handle kids. I always said working the 3-5 hours a day was the longest job I ever had and I have had 12 hour construction and cooking jobs. 

I do wish upper management would have visited us during my time in the company. I think giving a face to who they are really helps. In the almost 5 years I worked there we were only visited a couple times and mostly at the end because there were issues happening that I was unable or just tired of dealing with. I also wish there were cohesive trainings on classroom management, correct interaction with parents, admins, and children. I know they have been working on that but over my time there that seemed to be the missing link. Or having a training team that goes to every area at least once a year and meets with every employee for a day or two. This would help to create the community I know they are striving for. 

Though my choice to leave was one done in reaction to a situation. The reality is I had been done for along time and should have left a little more gracefully and a lot sooner. I grew a lot with this company and if you love working with kids there is no reason you can't successful.

I've worked for Innovation Learning for two years as a Site Coordinator and an Area Director.

As a Site Coordinator I received two merit-based raises within the first four months, and I was promoted after my first year. If you do good work, the company will reward you for it. They promote from within and are very generous with your hourly rate. My hours as a Site Coordinator were consistent and reliable around 30 hours a week. The company sometimes offers bonuses for perfect attendance.

As an Area Director, I am paid well, and I have the support of my boss. I have been given a lot of flexibility and control over my sites and staff. When I was laid off for COVID, the company gave me a side project to work on to keep me on staff for a couple of extra weeks so that I had enough savings to live off of before they were ready to rehire me.

This company really does make every effort to do the right thing for their employees, and the things that are challenging about working for Innovation Learning are not specific to the company. Limited hours for Teachers and Teaching assistants is true for any Before and After School company, but they tend to pay significantly less than Innovation Learning.

Teachers, Site Coordinators, and Area Directors undoubtedly have challenging jobs with high expectations, but you get such wonderful moments and memories with the kids that it's all worth it. You really have the power to make a difference for the children and their families and it is incredibly rewarding to do so.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Getting to work with cute little kids!

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Many of the kids at the two specific locations I worked at had no structure at home. I don't think it was anything to do with Innovation Learning, just happened to be the circumstance. Some of the kids needed more help than we could give. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
They did their best to support the teachers. I also noticed the other teachers doing their best to support each other, whether it was giving supplies or advice. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
For this part I will be speaking about the second location i worked at. Since it was an after-school program, I would arrive at about 2:15. I would then go into the cafetería, where a table was set up with children's name tags. I would put my things away and gather manipulatives and activities for the children to take to the classroom. After the children arrived, they would find their name tag and sit down and play with the toys laid out for them until it was time for us to go to the classroom. They would get a snack on the way out of the cafeteria as we walked to the classroom. When we arrived at the classroom, they would sit down and eat. Then they would play with manipulatives or we would play games. Some kids would start to go home during this time. Around 4:30 or so, we would return to the cafeteria and the children would play other games, like bean bag toss. I would usually leave around 5:30.

I started out as a site coordinator (glorified aftercare worker) pay was about $20 an hour and I really enjoyed this position. Then I was offered an Area Director Position after I graduated with my bachelors degree. This position was sold to me as a remote job for $40,000 salary. Quickly more responsibilities added up and I was working 14 hour days driving all across the valley, I was assigned 5 schools and some schools assigned to me were an hour and thirty minutes away. 

I soon got burnt out (3 months of working crazy stressful hours all for $9-$14 dollars an hour depending on the week and how many hours I had to work) 

I quit when I found out that I was among the lowest paid person for this position. Surprise surprise they are now paying 65,000 salary. I wouldn't take anything less for this position. 

Part-time is really just on-call work. They call you at the last minute, training is a joke and lucky if you get one or two shifts per week. Not to mention it is only for about 2 or maybe 3 hours per day (if lucky) which would be fine for extra money if it was consistent. Pay needs to be double what it is because you are basically paying for gas and mechanical wear on your vehicle for like 30$ per day after taxes. I really wanted to like this job, but the hours, pay and lack of any semblance of advanced scheduling made me quit this job. I understand late minute call-offs and needs but they barely even bother calling you in advance for shifts already open that need filled. I am disappointed because of another opportunity I turned down because I thought this would work with my schedule better until I realized there is no real schedule for "part-time". Too many jobs that pay less but pay way more due to consistency and scheduling competency. The economy is too good to wait by your phone to work a couple of hours for maybe a 40 dollar check on the other side of the city,  especially in the Denver Metro area. 

I like the AfterSchool programs if they were more consistent then they would really work with my other schedule. However, I would have been better off just working a day per week stocking at a grocery store for extra money (240-300 per pay period vs 30-70 per week at Innovations).

I want to start off by saying that ANY job or career you have is widely contingent on your attitude on any given day. This rings true and is more apparent on the harder days. That being said, if site directors had a bit more agency and freedom then I think some of the issues such as structure and support would be improved. Because there are situations where regardless of your attitude or work ethic, you will be dealing with some form of politics and there will be a sense of responsibility put on you, but your hands will be tied. Which can be quite frustrating to deal with on top of the normal everyday stresses of working a child care/education job. 
You can build great long lasting mutually beneficial relationships with the youth, staff, and parents. There is plenty of room for growth and upward movement. The pay is more than fair. The benefits could be better. in terms of what we get and the quality of it. 
Overall, this is a company that is young and still getting things figured out through all of its growing pains alongside a recession/pandemic/burnout of an economic system (The great resignation). I've seen and worked in places that were waaaay worse in all categories. So credit where credit is due. 

The more you work at this job, the more you get the hang of it. If you are looking for strong support from management and a low-stress environment this is not the job for you. Although, you develop amazing bonds with the children and parents and often your coworkers, there is no support from the upper management. They often take days to respond based on whom you’re reaching out too, little to no training when on boarded. 
It’s more of a “your call” kind of job. If there is time to do said activity, it will possibly get done. Unless your campus is very structured, there is a lot of chaos. 
Me and my coworkers ended up having to figure out a lot of things by ourselves making this the most stressful job I have ever had. 
If you let it get to you, it will! 
The best part of the job was meeting new people, getting to go to new campuses when you needed to fill in for others, the summer camp is so fun! 
This is a great job for teens/young adults who are looking for something to do in between school! 
Hours are not guaranteed. The pay is good, but that comes with hours not being 100% for sure. Only give out as back as you get back or else you will be left burnt out! Don’t over think the job easy. Make it fun for yourself. 

My experince working here last year sept 2018- oct 2018 was horrible. They did not keep their word on hours. They had the scheduling all over the place & would make us take turns going home early. The way their pay roll works made it hard to fix any mistakes on their end. I did not get paid for a while & ended up quitting because of it. They had 2 shifts. The hours were 6am-8am but you really would be done around 7:15. & afternoons they wanted you there at 2:30 but you wouldn’t be able to sign in until 3. Then you were suppose to stay until 6 but they would start cutting people around 4:30. it is a great program but they need to reevaluate how to run it. The managers that worked alongside me were awesome! But they also to were not treated good. They had a lot of expectation from the higher ups, with little materials & no structure. The first day i was there a child bit me... never in my whole career did i have a child put their hands on me & nothing was done. The same child was always hurting someone and running away. He almost reached the street once.... They didn’t do much about him but after he hurt many, they should have kicked him out. It made it harder to handle the rest, when you have to focus on one child.  There were too many kids, little staff & little support from higher ups.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Honestly the most you'll get out of it is parking and a flexible schedule, 15hrs a week isn't much to work with and the company doesn't take safety seriously(which is a BIG red flag.)

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Feeling unsafe at work is the largest stressor. Not to mention the lack of hours. There where many moments when employee ultimately felt unsupported and unprotected.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Chaos! The program is designed with ALL this structure but there is NO follow through. So the structure doesn't even work. As a child care personnel, you will have power or real authority over your work environment and therefore lack the support needed to make changes or implement policies. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Step one: show up.. early is too early but on time is late so you basically can't win.
Step two: keep your eyes on SO many children all at once AND make sure they go home with thier respective adults (hopefully without tears or injury because the kids DO fight all the time)
Step three: clean and sanitize everything and then clock out.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
School program staff 82 salaries reported	$22.62 per hour
Site coordinator 30 salaries reported	$22.25 per hour
School teacher 32 salaries reported	$19.84 per hour
Camp counselor 5 salaries reported	$19.50 per hour
Early childhood teacher 25 salaries reported	$17.42 per hour

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