The Club Experience
Looking for out-of-school care? Start here.
The Boys & Girls Club of Missoula County offers quality programs that are taught by caring professional staff and have proven successful in thousands of Clubs nationwide. We are also continually evaluating the needs of our youth and the results of our programs to improve and evolve with the changing times.
When school is out, Club is in.
We operate 5 After-School Clubhouses, Full Day programming, and a 9-week Summer Club.
How a young person spends the hours outside of school can be a key factor in his or her development. We see ourselves as a key partner in strengthening the Missoula County community by keeping our Club Members active and healthy in the hours after school and during the summer. By providing after-school Club every day during the school year, as well as a 9-week Summer Club, we are working every day to change the current statistics:
- 1 in 5 kids won’t graduate on time
- Juvenile crime escalates between 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. and there were nearly 1,000 juvenile offenses (ages 0-17) in Missoula in 2015
- 3 out of 10 children are obese or overweight
- 16% of children under the age of 18 living in Missoula County live in poverty
Clubhouse Details
How do we start our days?
Hours: After School Club starts at school release and ends at 6PM on all regularly scheduled school days.
Summer Club and Full Days runs from 7:30AM to 6PM.
Check-In: Members check-in with our Club Staff at a designated spot depending on their school and Club location.
Snack: We eat a healthy snack provided by the Missoula Food Bank, which includes a vegetable, protein, fruit, grain, and milk. Fun Fact: We serve an average of 40,790 snacks each school year!!
Breakfast & Lunch: During Summer and Full Days, we also have breakfast and lunch! This is either provided by the Missoula Food Bank or through the MCPS lunch program, free to our Club members.
Safety: We track each member's unique schedule and work together with the school and local teachers to ensure everyone is where they are supposed to be!
What do we do at Club?
Power Hour: Power Hour is where members achieve academic success through homework help, tutoring and high-yield learning activities and which encourage them to become self-directed learners. This includes in person homework and online classes.
Activities: Each of our sites has lots of space for our kids to run and play, to jump rope, throw a ball, or shoot baskets. We also use plenty of arts and crafts supplies to create unique creations and science experiments.
Emotional/Physical Wellness: A nationally acclaimed prevention program where participants will be exposed to various activities designed to hone their decision-making and critical-thinking skills.
Pulse Checks: To make sure our members feel a sense of belonging at Club we are always looking for ways to get youth input. By providing meaningful choices to members, we let them set the direction of our programming, and keep them involved in planning activities they’re interested in. A strong youth voice equals a fun and inclusive environment!
Club isn't over till 6PM!
Parent Pick-Up: Only parents, or an authorized adult, can pick-up your kid from Club. Enter the Clubhouse and speak with one of our staff to check-out your kid before 6PM.
Ask About Their Day: Our staff are focused on building those strong 1on1 relationships with youth. So ask them how your kids day went so we can work together!
Why We Serve Youth: How a young person spends the hours outside of school can be a key factor in his or her development. We see ourselves as a key partner in strengthening the Missoula County community by keeping our Club Members active and healthy in the hours after school and during the summer.
Each of our five After-School Clubhouses are unique and tailor our programs to the members, but there are three essential things that are universal across all of our Clubs:
Power Hour
Power Hour is dedicated time each afternoon for homework completion and receive help from staff for school assignments.
It's important that each of our Club Members goes to school the next day feeling prepared and ready to succeed in their classes.
Snack
Thanks to our partnership with the Missoula Food Bank we are able to give our kids a 5 component snack every day right after school.
With a fruit, veggie, protein, grain, and milk, our Club Members are ready to tackle their homework, play with their friends, and try new activities for the rest of Club! We serve an average of 40,790 snacks each school year!
Fun!
Fun is always at the heart of everything we do at Club. Without fun, our Club Members can't build strong relationships with our staff and other Club Members, can't try new activities, and can't focus on their homework.
Each of our sites has lots of space for our kids to run and play, to jump rope, throw a ball, shoot baskets, and create all kinds of imaginary games with their friends.
We focus heavily on creating an optimal Club Experience for all of our Members, working to achieve three priority outcome areas:
Academic Success
Through our Power Hour Program, we provide homework help and tutoring programs that help our Club Members develop good study habits and feel more confident in school.
Healthy Lifestyles
Every day, we provide our Club Members with a free, healthy meal and encourage them to participate in activities that increase their daily physical activity.
Character & Citizenship
We recognize that our Club Members are also our future Missoulians and we take our role in shaping our future community very seriously. We work to develop engaged citizens involved in the community and operate a drug and alcohol prevention program once a week.
AFTER SCHOOL CLUB
Every day after school, we transport over 100 Elementary-aged youth to one of our Clubhouses located across Missoula County, till 6PM. When they arrive to Club, they are welcomed into a safe, positive environment with positive role models, supportive relationships, a sense of true belonging, and a diverse set of opportunities.
Our Members also receive a free, healthy meal every day at Club. Our Clubs provide our parents and families with the peace of mind that their children have a safe place to go to every single day after school while they are at work.
SUMMER
CLUB
For 9 weeks during the summer, we provide Club from 7:45AM - 6PM to over 130 youth and families. Summer Club is housed out of several different locations around Missoula and serves youth entering 1st grade - entering 8th grade.
Our members are split into different age groups to provide age-appropriate programming and pair peers together.
Families are responsible for pick-up and drop-off during the Summer Club, but BGCM provides breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack to all our of Club members every day.
FULL DAY
CLUB
On many of the days that school is out during the school year, we operate full-days of Club for any and all young people looking for a safe, engaging place to be on their day(s) off of school. Anyone in Missoula County can attend our full-day Clubs, but After-School Club Members receive priority if we hit capacity for our full-day Club. Full-day Club is located at our Mid-Missoula Clubhouse (1515 Fairview Ave) and runs from 7:30AM - 6PM.
Full-day Club members participate in a number of group games and activities and often go on a field trip in the afternoon! Full-day Club members receive breakfast, lunch and snack at no additional cost.