6crickets Enrichment Platform

Solution Name:

6crickets Enrichment Platform

One-line solution summary:

6crickets interconnects schools/districts, enrichment providers, and parents to bring the best enrichment activities to K-12 students.

Pitch your solution.

The mission of 6crickets is to bring the best enrichment to every child by leveraging community efforts and modern technologies. American parents work 2,000 hours per year. Their children are in school for 1,000 hours.  So, after-school and summer time can double the learning time for students. This is an immense opportunity for schools to deliver additional learning, enrichment, and fun for all students, particularly those in traditionally under-resourced communities. Because out-of-school time activities are optional, there is a significant equity gap. 

6crickets partners with schools and districts to build the out-of-school-time learning hubs accessible by every student, harnessing the best enrichment programming from community partners, leveraging modern technologies for work flow management and achieving quality, safety, equity, and efficiency in such programs. 

This solution could bridge the significant equity gap in extracurricular learning and achievement gap in general. 

What specific problem are you solving?

The problem we are solving is equitable enrichment in out-of-school time at every school. Enrichment classes that teach STEM, art, music, chess, sports, etc. are critical ways to engage students in interest-driven, project-driven and social emotional learning and to develop the whole child. Because out-of-school time activities and enrichment are optional, we see the widest equity gaps. Because of the severe lack of infrastructure and systematic support, it takes tremendous effort to organize after-school enrichment programs at schools, which serves as further deterrence for enrichment to take place on school campuses where every student is and where equitable access can be possible. To date, students with access to quality after-school enrichment are a minority. They are either from affluent areas or from Title 1 districts that qualify for grants. Large majority of schools in between have very limited enrichment offerings. 

What is your solution?

6crickets partners with schools and districts to build the out-of-school-time learning hubs accessible by every student, harnessing and vetting the best enrichment programming from community partners and small enrichment businesses, leveraging modern technologies for work flow management and achieving quality, safety, equity, and efficiency in such programs. Each stakeholder, namely, districts, schools, enrichment providers, and families, has a dashboard for managing enrichment workflow and they are interconnected seamlessly into the same platform. 

This solution creates a win-win-win-win ecosystem: Schools and districts win because they can easily establish a community-based out-of-school time learning hub beyond the school day; by leveraging local small enrichment businesses, schools and districts don't need to shoulder the heavy burden of staffing and curriculum design. Students win because students get to access the best enrichment programs. Families, especially women, win because they get to work with peace of mind. Finally, our small enrichment businesses thrive because they get to impact more children. 

The 6crickets platform serves as a piece of fundamental infrastructure for out-of-school time.

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

We serve K-12 students and bring them the best, equitable enrichment. 

We serve school districts and enable them to build out-of-school time learning hub at every school accessible for every student. 

We serve parents by providing robust out-of-school time support and a one-stop shop so that they can easily manage their children's out-of-school time activities and work with peace of mind. 

We serve small enrichment businesses or teachers to help them teach at more schools, impact more students, and have a thriving business. 

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Explain how the problem you are addressing, the solution you have designed, and the population you are serving align with the Challenge.

• Increase the engagement of learners in remote, hybrid, and physical environments, including strategies and tools for parental support, peer interaction, guided independent work.

The 6crickets enrichment platform addresses engaging learners through quality enrichment programs, both in-person and remote. Enrichment fosters social, creative time and promotes meaningful peer interactions. Such out-of-school time support allow parents to work with peace of mind. 

• Enable access to quality learning experiences in low-connectivity settings—imaginative play, collaborative projects, and hands-on experiments.

In-person enrichment, such as drama, magic performance, robotics, sewing, science provide exactly imaginative play, collaborative projects, and hands-on experiments. 

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution.

6crickets has already supported 2.3M enrichment hours taught by 1290 providers’ classes at 557 schools in 122 districts in 25 states. We have 85K parent users who have managed enrichment for 160K students. 

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

Dr. Helen Wang, CEO and Founder