Elementary Afterschool Program
Participation in high-quality out-of-school time programs can help to improve academic, social/emotional skills and performance. Our Elementary Afterschool Program operates during the academic school year every day of the week. Our STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math)- focused model allows us to build the skills our 1st through 5th graders will need to succeed in school and life. We teach them how to “fish” with the skills they will need for an ever-changing world.
Summer Program
In our Summer Camp, participants build and maintain academic and social skills through the summer months to prevent summer learning loss. Research indicates that students, on average, lose between 25 and 30% of their school year learning over the summer. Additionally, Black and Latino students tend to gain less over the school year and lose more over the summer compared to white students.
Our Summer Camp runs from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, five days a week (40 hours weekly) for at least five weeks during the summer. Our summer STEAM-focused curriculum provides hands-on enrichment and learning opportunities through projects and fun!
Caregiver Engagement Program
We are committed to helping parents and guardians support their child’s education. Following key industry research, including Dr. Joyce Epstein’s Six Keys of Parent Involvement, we designed our caregiver engagement program to equip caregivers’ knowledge and skills to support the academic success of their children. These include:
- Orientations to learn more about our program
- Literacy Night, STEAM Night, and Showcases
- Volunteer opportunities
- Written Resources
To learn more about our caregiver engagement programs, please contact our Sr. Manager for Programs, Nick Marshall.
Program Curriculum
Our curriculum helps students apply math and reading, develops life skills, and helps caregivers better support their child’s success. All students experience these key curriculum elements:
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math concepts are introduced through fun, hands-on, and mind-on projects and activities. These help students gain critical thinking and problem-solving skills while envisioning themselves as future scientists and engineers.
Each fall, our Literacy Arts curriculum introduces children to various literary genres and teaches them how to create original works. Literacy Arts culminates in a Literacy Night event where friends and family can celebrate young authors.
Every spring, children learn skills like sewing, quilting, knitting, and weaving to encourage creativity and problem-solving, learning skills, and applying math. The fabric arts curriculum concludes in June with a showcase inviting family and friends to celebrate art.
Our Life Skills programming, using the research-based Second Step curriculum, develops skills in conflict resolution, empathy, and goal-setting. We guide students through fun activities that help them understand the value of a skill and how to apply it to their day-to-day lives.
School Partners
The Fishing School partners with DC Public Schools, independent schools, and public charter schools to deliver our programming. Our current sites are:
In addition to program space and enrollment support, partner schools provide access to student performance data. Our staff works with school-day teachers so that we can tailor our instructions as needed.
15 to 1 Student to Teacher Ratio
300 Students Served Every Day
14 hours of weekly instruction