Questions we get every single week.

It is really free. There is no catch, no deposit, no materials fee, no 'suggested donation,' and no requirement that you volunteer. We are funded by donors and grants because we believe the last three hours of the school day should not depend on a family's income.

Probably not, and if they do, we will notice within two weeks and tell you. About a third of our kids are quiet kids. Programs are capped at fourteen for exactly this reason, and there is always a smaller table in the room. Nothing is a popular first stop.

Two vans run loops from partner schools to the Hawthorne, Cully, Lents, and St. Johns sites. We also give out TriMet honor passes to any kid who needs one, no questions. Transportation is the number one reason kids stop attending, so we treat it as a program cost, not a favor.

Snack is provided every day and always includes a fruit, a protein, and water. We are a nut-free program. Families list allergies at enrollment and the kitchen lead posts a photo of every label in the staff room. If your kid has a complicated allergy, call us and we will read you the week's menu before you enroll.

No. We have no religious affiliation and no religious content. Two of our sites are in church buildings because the rent is fair; the rooms are ours from 3 to 6 and the walls are plain.

A licensed barber is in the room for every single cut, no exceptions, and the student must pass a sanitation and consent checklist before touching anyone's hair. Parents sign a specific salon consent at enrollment. Kids can decline a cut at any point, including mid-cut, and we practice that out loud.

Because attention is a skill and nobody teaches it. Twenty minutes, twice a week, no output. It is voluntary and it is full. You can read more on the Nothing page, which is mostly blank on purpose.

Yes. Come to an open studio afternoon or a family night. We do not do trial weeks during the term because the group is mid-project, but a single visit is always fine.

Yes, and 22% of our kids have one. We are not a therapeutic program and we do not provide one-to-one support, but we will read the plan, talk to the family, and tell you honestly whether our ratios can hold what your kid needs. Sometimes the answer is not yet, and we say so.

611 kids long. It moves because kids move, age out, or change schedules. Most sites clear in one to two terms. Hawthorne is the longest wait. If you are flexible about site, you will get in much faster. We do not charge to waitlist and we do not prioritize donors.

No. Two afternoons a week is the minimum to hold a spot, and you can change days once per term. We do not punish absences. We do call home if a kid misses two weeks, because that usually means something is wrong.

We run a two-week summer camp, a spring break week, and half-day coverage on most district in-service days. Winter break we close, because staff need it and so do kids.

Yes, and most of our volunteers are not. Everyone does a background check, a two-hour orientation, and a real job. We do not create busywork for volunteers.

Only with written permission, per event, and never for fundraising without a separate signature. Our annual report uses no identifiable kid photos. We hire an illustrator instead.

Read the transparency page. It has the full budget, the audit status, the funder list, and a section about what we got wrong last year. If you want the actual statements, ask and we will send them.