As a working mom married to a working dad, Maggie Giel-Bovaird of Shaler knows it takes a village to raise kids these days.
When they were looking for an after school program close to where their son, Bryce, was going to school, there couldn’t be anything closer than the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania’s clubhouse inside Shaler Area’s Scott Primary School.
Bryce, now 9 and in third grade, started going when he was in kindergarten. His brother, Declan, 6, is in kindergarten and going now, too.
“All their friends were going,” she said. “They made some really great friends.”
The clubhouse has the sports activities Bryce likes and the arts and crafts Declan prefers.
“To me, it’s all about exposure,” Giel-Bovaird said. “It gives them an opportunity to try new things. There’s different things for everybody.”
And what Giel-Bovaird said is great for working parents is the club’s “No School, No Problem” program — if school is closed for any reason, her kids can spend the day at the Boys & Girls Clubs’ Northern Area clubhouse in Millvale, the second clubhouse within the Shaler Area School District.
“It’s never a fight. They love going and they love seeing their friends,” she said.
The two Shaler Area clubhouses are among 11 that the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania has throughout the region, with nine of them in Allegheny County, said President and CEO Chris Watts, himself a Shaler resident and 2004 Shaler Area graduate. He grew up through the clubhouse in Millvale, and his son and daughter go to the clubhouse at Scott.
A clubhouse has been in Millvale since the 1950s and at its current location on the St. Matthew’s Parish Holy Spirit campus since March 2016, he said. Students from Burchfield, Marzolf and Reserve primary schools are bused there.
Josh Violi was once one of the little kids running around the clubhouse in Millvale, when it was on Farragut Street. A decade later and now 21, he’s one of the adults doing for kids today what had been done for him.
“We had so much fun playing in the gym, making all kinds of new friends,” he said.
The clubhouse at Scott Primary is one of four based in schools. The others are at Duquesne, Sto-Rox and Aliquippa. They are relatively new, coming as the nonprofit organization reorganized its operations after the pandemic to better serve communities by meeting children where they are and removing barriers to participating in programming, Watts said.
The club is the after-school provider of record for Shaler Area and offers before- and after-school programs at both locations for children in kindergarten through eighth grade. The Millvale clubhouse has a preschool for children ages 3 to 5.
The kids call Sarah Bowser, an assistant preschool teacher, “Ms. Sarah.” It’s the kids, she said, that are the best part.
“That’s what makes it fun, seeing them all grow up,” said Bowser of Etna.
Summer camp has been offered in Millvale and will be held at Scott, across the street at Shaler Area Elementary School, for the first time this year, Watts said.
Shaler Area is advancing a reconfiguration plan that will close Shaler Area Elementary School and move fourth and fifth grades into the four primary schools, including Scott. Superintendent Bryan O’Black said the district will work closely with the Boys & Girls Clubs to make sure there is space at Scott for the program to continue serving students.
O’Black said his district’s partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs has been valuable for students and families.
“High-quality before- and after-school programming provides students with a safe, supportive environment where they can receive homework assistance, engage in enrichment activities and build positive relationships with caring adults and peers,” he said. “Programs like this reinforce many of the same skills we emphasize during the school day such as teamwork, responsibility and perseverance, which ultimately supports student success in the classroom.”
Because the clubhouse uses the cafeteria, stage and gym at Scott, it won’t be affected by the two additional grades being moved into the building, Watts said. In fact, he said it should strengthen the program, since the fourth and fifth graders will stay there.
Although the fourth and fifth graders can just walk across the street from Shaler Area Elementary School to Scott, participation among those students drops off as they get involved in different activities, Watts said.
“We’ll have a longer time to build those relationships with families,” he said.
After being shut down by covid, registrations have been trending up since 2023, Watts said. The two Shaler Area locations are at capacity, with the preschool nearly full and with a wait list.
“It’s a high demand for what we do,” he said. “We’re pretty much at the limits of what we can support and figure out how to continue that for the families that we serve.”
In addition to what they can do at the clubhouses, children have other experiences available, such as field trips to places such as the Kamin Science Center, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, Watts said.
A unique experience was appearing in a Super Bowl ad with Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward. More than a dozen youngsters from the Millvale clubhouse participated.
“We’re bringing unique experiences to the school district they may not have without our relationship,” Watts said.
Millvale clubhouse Manager Kate Davis knows that well.
Beyond being with the club for 17 years, her daughter, Eliza Davis, 17, grew up in it. Besides homework help, learning to swim and gaining a love for softball, Eliza got to go to sports events and places like the Byham Theater and Benedum Center that Kate said she could not otherwise afford.
“We’ve been able to do so many things from being in the club,” she said. “You name it, she learned it here.”
With the exception of the Shadyside clubhouse serving teens, families that qualify can get help paying for having children participate in the clubhouses through Child Care Works.
The traditional after-school program, its largest and most popular, costs $145 per week. Most families rely on programs to help pay some or all of the cost of the club’s programs.
“We have services and resources available to help families that may need assistance,” Watts said. “We do our best to not turn any child away. That’s why we are here. That’s why we exist.”
As Giel-Bovaird knows, the clubhouses do more than help kids — and even more to help their parents beyond giving them things to do. Parents form connections through the club, too.
“It brings parents together. There are parents I’ve met through the Boys & Girls Club I may not have met otherwise,” she said. “It’s important for our kids to see adults have friendships as well.”