Beyond Recess: How One Foundation Transformed Afterschool Wellness & Equity

Henrico Education Foundation (HEF) & Hiveclass: Intentional Wellness Drives Program Engagement and Equity

The Challenge: Beyond Just Active Time

As an educational foundation running a robust network of afterschool programs, the Henrico Education Foundation (HEF) is dedicated to providing holistic support to its students. Before partnering with Hiveclass, a critical gap existed in their approach to physical activity and wellness. While physical fitness time was required and scheduled, it often lacked intentionality.

HEF’s programs needed a comprehensive, cross-program platform that could:

1. Standardize and enrich the physical activity and wellness content across all program sites.
2. Move beyond basic free play to teach students tangible skills for movement, mindfulness and emotional regulation.
3. Support staff lacking specialized physical education (PE) backgrounds, giving them the confidence and tools to facilitate high-quality movement activities.

The Goal: Intentionality, Engagement and Wellness 

HEF’s primary goal was to transform passive physical activity time into intentional physical fitness and wellness time. Specific outcomes they hoped to achieve included:

• Increased Physical Activity & Engagement: Ensuring students were actively moving and learning.
• Skill Development: Teaching students how to use movement and mindfulness (like “brain breaks”) to manage stress after a long day at school.
• Cross-Program Equity: Implementing a single, comprehensive solution that could be used effectively across HEF’s multiple afterschool programs, ensuring every student had access to the same quality content regardless of their specific site.

Why Hiveclass: Comprehensive Platform and Dedicated Support

HEF’s decision to choose and then renew their partnership with Hiveclass centered on two critical factors: the comprehensive nature of the platform and the high level of dedicated client support.

The Foundation found Hiveclass to be a complete platform of lessons and learning materials, reducing the need for staff to create supplement content on their own. Key features that solidified the decision included:

• Comprehensive Content: A robust library of videos and lessons covering skill development, character development and mindfulness.
• Data and Tracking: The platform’s ability to track activity completion and usage data, giving HEF valuable insights into student interests and engagement.
• High-Touch Support: The dedicated Hiveclass team provided hands-on support, including account setup, training and year-end usage analysis. This strong support system helped HEF staff understand the “why” behind the implementation, ensuring high utilization.

Implementation: A Dual-Purpose Tool for Intentional Activity & Regulation

HEF staff, primarily center directors, teachers and counselors  integrated Hiveclass into their daily routines in two key ways:

1. Scheduled Physical Activity Time: Hiveclass content is used as an intentional component of the scheduled physical activity time, whether indoors or outdoors.
2. As a Behavior Regulation Tool: Staff relies on the mindfulness and movement breaks to help students regulate emotions and behavior. When students show signs of needing a break or struggling to focus after a long day at school, counselors turn to the platform to facilitate a calming activity, emphasizing the mindfulness units for self-regulation skills.

A strong initial rollout and targeted professional development were crucial for increasing consistent use among counselors, establishing the “why” and building comfort with the technology.

The Impact: Confidence, Creativity, and Cross-Pollination of Sports

The implementation of Hiveclass has yielded significant results for both staff and students.

Impact on Staff & Program Quality

Hiveclass directly supported growth in staff confidence, especially for those without a PE background:

• Increased Confidence: Counselors gained the skills and confidence to effectively stop, re-convene, and run a successful program when students are struggling to focus or need movement. They felt empowered as leaders who could provide necessary support.
• Enhanced Creativity and Autonomy: With a reliable resource at their fingertips, counselors showed an increase in creativity and autonomy, leading to more movement-based activities and feelings of confidence in directing and leading programs effectively.

Impact on Students & Outcomes

While HEF notes that attendance is multifactorial, they have observed a direct link between the increased engagement provided by Hiveclass and positive student trends:

• Increased Weekly Attendance: HEF saw an increase in average weekly attendance, with students expressing excitement and a desire to stay in the afterschool program.
• Exposure and Interest in New Sports: Center directors reported a significant increase in student interest in a variety of sports (e.g., lacrosse, field hockey, dance) that they had not been exposed to before. The platform showcases different activities, sparking excitement and opportunities for physical literacy.
• Improved Regulation: Counselors affirm the platform’s value in creating a calming environment where students feel their wellness needs are being met, thanks to the readily available movement and mindfulness activities.

Future Vision: Deeper Integration and Data-Driven Planning

Moving forward, HEF plans to deepen its Hiveclass integration by:

• Calming Transition Time: Utilizing the mindfulness lessons to project a communal activity during the critical transition time from the school day into the afterschool space, creating a shared, calming and safe environment for all students.
• Rec Sports Implementation: Analyzing Hiveclass usage data to identify the most popular sports and then providing site programs and counselors with the necessary equipment and skills to facilitate full group, “rec-sports” type gameplay for deeper skill application and levels of physical activity time.
• Incorporating Pre/Post Assessments: HEF aims to implement the platform’s internal assessments to create a pre- and post-assessment data piece to quantifiably show the increase in physical literacy skills gained by students over the school year.

HEF’s Advice: The Equity-Building Wellness Tool

When advising other afterschool programs considering Hiveclass, HEF emphasizes the platform’s ability to drive wellness equity:

“We view Hiveclass as a wonderfully comprehensive platform that’s really focused on student wellness overall. It provides equity across our programs. Students come from different backgrounds, but to be able to provide something like Hiveclass meets them where they are in that equity piece, meeting them where their skills are and being able to implement that across all of our programs is just a really wonderful thing. It helps build a healthier after-school program overall.”

– Taryn Coullier
Director of Curriculum
Henrico Education Foundation