The Princeton Public Schools will have a new after-school care provider, owned by a school district counselor, for the four elementary schools for the 2025-26 school year.
The Princeton Public Schools Board of Education approved hiring Samara Solutions LLC to provide after-school care at a special meeting April 9. It is owned by Ben Samara, who is the counselor for the Riverside School.
The Princeton YWCA is the current after-school care program provider. It was hired for the 2024-25 school year.
The after-school care program had bounced from one provider to another in recent years. Until 2023, the Princeton YMCA was the provider, but former Superintendent of Schools Carol Kelley brought in a for-profit provider from Chicago, according to published reports on TapIntoPrinceton.
Amid complaints from parents about the quality of care and the screening of employees, school district officials ended the district’s association with the after-school program provider and brought in the Princeton YWCA.
Meanwhile, Samara Solutions LLC was one of seven applicants who responded to the school district’s request for proposals (RFP) to run the after-school program for the 2025-26 school year.
Samara Solutions LLC and two other finalists were interviewed by a team of two administrators and five school board members. The team recommended appointing Samara Solutions LLC.
The fees charged by Samara Solutions LLC, whose program will be known as Tiger Time, are anticipated to be the same as those charged by the Princeton YWCA.
The fees charged by the Princeton YWCA range from $290 to $395 per month for pre-K/Kindergarten and $275 to $370 per month for grades 1-5. There is a daily drop-in fee of $75. The fee is $120 for a full day, which includes before-school and after-school care.
In a letter to parents, Interim Superintendent of Schools Kathie Foster wrote that the new after-school care provider is one that school district officials believe will integrate well with the school community and support the district’s goals for student growth and development.
Ben Samara of Samara Solutions LLC is the school counselor at the Riverside School and has also been the head track and field coach at Princeton High School, Foster wrote.
The Tiger Time program, as the after-school care program will be known, will benefit from Samara’s 20 years of experience supporting academic and social emotional learning and his deep knowledge of the Princeton community and its schools, she wrote.
It is anticipated that Tiger Time will hire many school district staff members – who know the district’s learning objectives as well as the students – to support students with homework, expressive activities and free play, Foster wrote.
“It is this opportunity to make afterschool a meaningful extension of school programming that to us will make the experience not just expedient but truly worthwhile. We are excited it will be offered to our families,” Foster wrote.
In addition to being the Riverside School counselor, Samara has served as the director of day camps and youth programs for the Princeton Recreation Department since 2014.
His role in hiring and training staff for the Princeton Recreation Department has given him substantial experience in identifying candidates who will match the core values and expectations of Tiger Time and the Princeton community, according to Samara’s answers in the school district’s request for proposals.
Tiger Time will seek candidates from within the school district to staff the program, according to the Tiger Time brochure. Site supervisors ideally would be teachers from the respective elementary schools.
At the Community Park School, there will be an emphasis on hiring Spanish-speaking staff members to support the school’s Dual Language Immersion population.
Parents will hear directly from Tiger Time about the program, enrollment options and costs, Foster wrote. It is hoped that many students will be able to take advantage of the program.
