Growing beyond the classroom

For many working parents, the school day ends long before the workday does. 

That reality led Angie Montes to start Enrich the Kids in 2008. What began as a small after-school enrichment program now serves about 180 families during the summer and roughly 300 during the school year, providing children with a safe place to learn, play and grow after the final bell. 

“There just wasn’t enough childcare available after school,” said Montes, founder and CEO of Enrich the Kids. 

Before launching the nonprofit, Montes coordinated an enrichment program through the Parent Teacher Organization at Hillrise Elementary. Students could participate in after-school activities, but the program ended around 4 p.m., leaving many families searching for childcare until parents finished work. 

Rather than simply extending the hours, Montes expanded the program while keeping enrichment at its core. Children stayed until 6 p.m. and spent their afternoons participating in activities such as arts and crafts, music, sports, games, and homework support. 

Today, Enrich the Kids offers after-school care, summer programming and a Home Visiting Program that supports families from pregnancy through early childhood. The organization also employs many New Mexico State University students studying education, psychology, speech-language pathology, kinesiology and other child-related fields, giving them practical experience while working directly with children. 

Last year, the nonprofit expanded its services by launching the Home Visiting Program using the Parents as Teachers curriculum. The program connects families with developmental resources, monitors childhood milestones, and provides parents with tools to support learning from an early age. 

For Alexis Reyes, director at Explore Academy Las Cruces, said the organization’s mission continues to address one of the community’s greatest needs. 

“Some of the biggest needs I see among the children and families I work with is childcare,” Reyes said. “Many families work, especially during breaks and holidays. At Enrich the Kids, we are always making sure that need is met.” 

The program’s impact can be seen in the lives of the children it serves. 

Reyes recalled one student who struggled academically before making steady progress after attending the program’s homework sessions. Montes also shared the story of a student who first learned violin through Enrich the Kids and later performed with the Las Cruces Symphony. Another former participant returned years later to tell Montes that, as an only child, the program had given her “a whole room full of siblings.” 

Montes said those experiences reflect the importance of providing children with a safe, engaging place to spend the hours after school. 

“If there’s no funding, kids are going home to empty houses,” she said. “That’s where most of the crimes done by and against children are happening during the after-school hours. If we can make that a sacred and protected time where we’re giving them great activities to do, that’s critical for all the citizens to know and understand.” 

Nearly 17 years after it began, Enrich the Kids continues to build on the same mission that inspired its creation: giving children opportunities to learn and grow while providing working families with dependable after-school care.