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Blog / Partner Spotlight: How Orange County Public Schools Is Making Afternoons Easier for Staff

February 27, 2026

Partner Spotlight: How Orange County Public Schools Is Making Afternoons Easier for Staff

Across Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) in Florida, afterschool leaders set a clear goal: create afternoons that students actually look forward to — without adding extra planning for staff.

Teams are committed and creative, but planning often means searching online and pulling ideas together at the last minute.

Dr. Maria Rincon-Dwyer, administrator of OCPS Afterschool Programs, shared:

“Some of the challenges we saw were a lack of meaningful activities and a lot of time spent finding things to do on Pinterest and other online search engines. Activities were not always based on academic standards.”

Like many programs, staff already manage pickup, transitions from the school day, and behavior. Adding daily lesson planning on top of that wasn’t realistic.

So OCPS looked for a different approach, one where any staff member, regardless of teaching background, could run a strong activity the moment the program started.

Giving Staff Support, Not More Work

In a district serving more than 200,000 students, Orange County Public Schools needed something that could work across multiple sites, with different staff, different experience levels, and different supplies on hand.

Dr. Maria Rincon-Dwyer explained what led to the partnership with AB Studios:

“Most of our staff are not trained teachers, so asking them to create lesson plans isn’t feasible. With AB Studios, they have two options: they can enter the supplies they already have and generate a complete, standards-based lesson, or they can start with a video that includes step-by-step instructions to carry out the activity.”

Because the structure is built in, the afternoon doesn’t depend on who is leading it. A brand-new staff member and a veteran can run the same activity with confidence.

Staff can now build activities in minutes using materials already on hand, giving them the freedom to spend their afternoons working with students instead of preparing.

What Afternoons Have Started to Look Like

Across the district, sites can use the AB Studios platform in different ways depending on student needs.

Here are a few ways teams are putting it into practice:

Staff-Created Activities in Minutes

At Wedgefield School, students began with a Valentine activity built from materials already on hand using the AB Studios AI Lesson Generator.

At the same site, older students created a kindness chain, writing appreciation messages and linking them into a shared display.

Because the lesson was ready to go and built from supplies already in the room, staff didn’t have to scramble for ideas or prep materials ahead of time.

Instead, they focused on guiding conversations, supporting collaboration, and being present with students.

Everyone Started on the Same Page

At Luminary Elementary, staff kicked off the afternoon with a STEAM video starter that included built-in discussion and hands-on challenges.

With every group beginning in the same place, staff don’t have to repeat directions across the room or be experts on the topic.

The Lesson Already Had Structure

At Deerwood Elementary School, students took on a measuring challenge. They predicted the length of classroom objects, measured them, and recorded the difference.

Across sites, leaders and staff are working toward the same goal: less prep for staff and more confident, joyful afternoons for students.

What Leaders Are Starting to Notice

Since launching AB Studios this year, OCPS is already seeing encouraging signs.

Dr. Maria Rincon-Dwyer shared:

“Everyone who has used it said they wish they had this before because of how easy it is to use. Students seem happy to have activities that are fun and easy to follow.”

Want to see how another multisite program approached this? Download our case study to see how AlphaBEST Education reduces prep time and delivers consistent enrichment across sites.