After-School All-Stars Puget Sound

After-School All-Stars (ASAS) Puget Sound provides free, comprehensive after-school programs that keep children safe and help them succeed in school and life.

Our vision is for our All-Stars to be safe and healthy, graduate high school and pursue higher learning, find careers they love, and give back to their communities. We are one of the few after-school providers in Washington State that focuses on middle schoolers, a historically under-served age group.

Middle schoolers often lack access to a safe-haven during the hours immediately after school. These students need safe, productive spaces during this time to build resilience. Yet, despite the high demand for middle school out-of-school time services, a disproportionately low number of programs in South King County serve this age group.

ASAS Puget Sound is addressing these needs by providing free, holistic programs designed to help middle schoolers tackle their evolving challenges and build a brighter future for themselves.

We structure our programs around three pillars (Academics, Enrichment, and Wellness) while integrating the following strategic initiatives:

1. “We Are Ready” prepares students for successful transitions to high school and beyond through academic support and college exploration.
2. “Career Exploration Opportunities” inspires students to create ambitious career goals through entrepreneurialism and financial literacy activities, field trips to local workplaces, and Q&A sessions with a variety of professionals.
3. “Sports as a Hook” empowers students to live healthy, active lifestyles by connecting athletics to lessons on leadership, teamwork, gender equity, and environmental stewardship.
4. “Life Service Action” develops students’ sense of social responsibility as they design and lead their own community service projects.

In addition to homework help and field trips, we offer a variety of enrichment and wellness programs, including DJ/music production, coding & game design, dance, yoga, cooking & nutrition, outdoor education, career exploration, sports, and more! Our programs are free, school-based, and we partner with school districts to provide free bus transportation home. This structure helps us reach youth who would otherwise lack access to such opportunities.

For more than 25 years, ASAS has delivered innovative, empowering programs for youth in need nationwide. Locally, our Puget Sound chapter has shown promising momentum since launching programs in 2016.

Over the past two school years, our students have reported a 62% increase in leadership identity, a 76% increase in growth mindset, a 50% increase in weekly physical activity, and 91% reported a strong sense of community. Also, 96% of our students would recommend ASAS programs to a friend!