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Child Care K - 8th

Fun & Friends School Age Care

Fun & Friends Mission

We strive to provide age-appropriate care and meaningful learning experiences through enrichment and recreational activities led by caring, supportive staff. We are committed to providing quality year-round programming for our youth, building nurturing relationships, and a connection to the community.

About Us

Fun & Friends is a school-age care program for students in Kindergarten through 8th grade. We have served the students of Brainerd Public Schools for over 30 years, providing age-appropriate fun, recreational activities. Care is provided before school, after school, on non-school days, and over the summer.

 

  • School year rates are updated for the 25–26 school year and vary depending on the days scheduled per week. 

    Program Number of days a week Rate per week
    After school

    1

    		 $17
    After school 2 $ 34 ($17/day)
    After school 3 $42 ($14/day)
    After school 4 $48 ($12/day)
    After school 5 $60 ($12/day)
    Non-school day Any $45/day

    Registration Fee: Fun & Friends has a $30/year registration fee per child. If your child attends summer Fun & Friends, this registration was included with the summer contract and will not be added to the school year. If your child did not attend summer, there will be a $30 registration fee applied when your application is approved.

    Drop-In Days: If you are requesting child care with less than 7 days' notice, the daily rate will be $17/day for after school or $50/day for a non-school day. Please keep in mind that we are staffing and preparing our activities based on the number of kids scheduled, so we do ask for drop-in days to be limited. Please contact your Site Supervisor beforehand to make sure there is room for your child to attend as a drop-in. 

  • School year registration will open in two different phases starting at the end of June. See the table below. 

    Fun & Friends School Year 25–26 Registration

    Registration Windows Phases Who’s Included
    July 2–July 8 Priority Registration

    All families who have students currently attending Fun & Friends summer programming.

    All families who had students attend the 24-25 school year.

    Families currently on the summer 2025 waitlist prior to today’s date, 6/26/25. (These families will receive notification.) 
    July 9–July 16 Public Registration

    Open to everyone to complete enrollment. All public enrollments will be placed in a lottery. The number of spaces will be based on staffing availability.

    Families will be notified of their status by July 25.

     

  • Schedules are due every other Wednesday by 4:00 p.m. for the upcoming two weeks. Invoices will be sent on Thursdays and are due by the following Monday. Email reminders will be sent out every other week by the Fun & Friends secretary, with schedule-due reminders. 

  • After School Locations* (School Year): 

    • Riverside Elementary

    • Baxter Elementary

    • Harrison Elementary (also servicing Lowell & Garfield students)

    • Nisswa Elementary

    • Forestview students may attend Baxter, Harrison, or Nisswa Elementary

    Before School Locations (School Year): 

    • Plans for Before-School programming are being finalized for the 25-26 school year—stay tuned!

     

    * Students must attend programming at the school where they attend. Forestview students may attend at the Baxter, Harrison, or Nisswa locations.

Fun & Friends Handbook

Find more detailed information about the Fun & Friends program in our handbook!

Preview unavailable.
Click here to view 2025 Fun & Friends Parent Handbook (2).