Elementary Program

Young Explorers - Reach for the Stars

Issaquah Parks & Community Services and Young Explorers Club are working together to offer a fun, project-based before & after school program at the Issaquah Community Center. Our program takes a holistic approach toward learning with hands-on projects related to science, engineering, arts and social emotional concepts. We offer after-school enrichment classes including creative arts, STEM lab, world languages & cultures, and academic tutoring. At the same time, we introduce students to philanthropy and inspire them to serve their community. By integrating academic support, STEAM education, and social-emotional learning, we engage young learners in building a strong academic foundation, finding a passion for STEAM exploration, and developing social skills.

We believe creative and innovative thinking are essential life skills that can be developed. We also believe it’s important to provide opportunities for students to learn how to do public speaking, present their projects, and share their findings. Our students learn through a wide variety of hands-on activities in every class and thoroughly enjoy the experiments and projects they do. They also enjoy project presentations and class performances, the last phase of the project-based learning. We strive to provide valuable learning opportunities that help students build strong creative, problem-solving, and public speaking skills and develop new ways of thinking & exploring.

Elementary Program

For children grades K – 5

Before & After School Program

Monday – Friday

Morning: 7:00 am – 9:00 am

M, T, Th & F Afternoon: 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Wednesday Afternoon: 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Monday - Creative Arts

Creative and innovative thinking are essential life skills that can be developed. Our Creative Arts classes are designed by experienced community teaching artists and offer several different art courses including Visual Art, Drama & Writing, and Digital Media. Students study art throughout history and are exposed to various artists from around the world. We introduce elementary students to the world of art, inspire them to learn what it means to be creative and help them learn foundational techniques along the way. Through the art-making processes and experiences, we strive to help young learners gain self-confidence, develop creative and innovative skills, and use the arts as a tool to inspire a love of learning.

Tuesday - STEM Lab

Our STEM Lab classes for elementary students cover a wide variety of topics from Robotics & Engineering, Coding & Computer Science to Science Experiments/Projects. We introduce students to fundamental concepts & real-world examples, inspire them to create various engineering, coding and science projects, and encourage them to develop their own original designs and build problem-solving skills. Through hands-on experiences, we provide valuable learning opportunities for young learners to create real products, build strong imagination & creative skills, and develop new ways of thinking & exploring.

Wednesday - STEM Team Project & Field Trip

Our project-based learning provides opportunities for young learners to work on group projects. Students pick their project topic from several options, develop an idea together, then create a plan and bring it to fruition. Students learn to design, plan, develop, and present their projects as a group to the class. While students receive guidance from teachers when needed, the project-based learning is an opportunity for young learners to work together while having total ownership over their project from beginning to end. This teaches them to set goals, monitor their progress, make necessary adjustments, and reflect on their learning. All while building their teamwork skills!

We hold various Special Events on Wednesday afternoons, including project presentations, class performances, team-building games, holiday celebrations, community service projects, fundraising events, as well as field trips to Issaquah library, fire station, food bank, Julius Boehm Pool, and more! 

Thursday - World Languages & Cultures

Children will be exposed to and get the opportunity to practice sight words, dialogues in real-life situations, and storytelling both in English and either Chinese or Spanish. Our classes also engage children in an exploration of culture and develop awareness and appreciation of cultural products, practices, and perspectives through a variety of activities including arts, games, performances, and celebrations.

Friday - Academic Monitoring/Tutoring

We help elementary students understand concepts they learn at school, work on practice problems, get familiar with test formats and structures, and build strong academic foundation and study habits through academic monitoring and tutoring.

Elementary After School Program
Daily Schedule

M, T, Th & F Afternoon: 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

  • 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm     Hands-on Experiment/Project
  • 5:30 pm – 6:00 pm     Free choice

 

Wednesday Afternoon: 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm

  • 2:00 pm – 5:30 pm     STEM Team Project or Special Event
  • 5:30 pm – 6:00 pm     Free choice
 
 
Preschool Prep

Monday – Friday 9:30-12:00; 1:00-3:30

Monday

Social-Emotional Learning

Tuesday

Foreign Language

Wednesday

Group Play (Open Club)

Thursday

STEM Lab1

Friday

Creative Arts

Preschool Prep Daily Schedule

Saturday – Sunday 9:30-12:00

Saturday

9:30-10:30:
Social-Emotional Learning

Saturday

11:00-12:00: Creative Arts

Sunday

9:30-10:30: STEM Lab

Enrichment Classes

Saturday – Sunday 9:30-12:00

Music and Movement

9:30-10:30:
Social-Emotional Learning

Read and Discussion

11:00-12:00: Creative Arts

Snack

9:30-10:30: STEM Lab

Hands-on Experiment/Projectt

9:30-10:30:
Social-Emotional Learning

Transition – cleanup/recess

11:00-12:00: Creative Arts

Group Activity

9:30-10:30: STEM Lab

Share the Day‛s Discoveries

9:30-10:30: STEM Lab

Sample Month-long Learning Units

STEM Lab - 23/24

September:
October:
November:
December:
January:
February:
March:
April:
May:
June:

Space Science

Physical Science

Math & Computer Science

Review and Holiday Celebration

Engineering

Behavioral & Social Science

Life Science

Earth & Environmental Science

Science Fair

Review and End of Year Celebration

September Class Schedule - 23/24

September

Week 1:
Week 2:
Week 3:
Week 4:
Week 5:

M-Art Mediums          T-Space Science          Th-Hello, My Friends          F-Academic Tutoring

Bulletin Boards                Outer Space                       Let’s Explore Our World           Language Arts          
Painting                             All About the Moon         Location & Places-Nature         Math
Printmaking                     Stars & Constellations     Location & Places-Culture        Language Arts
3-D Art                              Our Solar System              Continent Box                             Math
Architecture                     Space Exploration             Stories & Movies                        Science

Sample Classes and Teaching Strategies

STEM Lab

Class:
Tuesday-STEM Lab

Teaching Strategies:
Recognize and solve problems through exploration & cooperation, and use varied strategies to find multiple solutions to a question, task or problem.

Wild Wednesday

Class:
Wednesday-STEM Team Project & Field Trip

Teaching Strategies:
Make happy memories and build social skills through fun, hands-on activities, team building games, and celebrations.

Academic Monitoring/Tutoring

Class:
Friday-Academic Monitoring/Tutoring

Teaching Strategies:
We help elementary students build strong academic foundation and study habits through academic monitoring and tutoring.

Elementary Program Times and Tuition

Elementary Before & After School Program

Children grades K-5

Monday – Friday

Morning: 7:00 am – 9:00 am

M, T, Th & F Afternoon: 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Wednesday Afternoon: 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Class Schedule - Fall 2023

Monday – Creative Arts

Tuesday – STEM Lab 

Wednesday – STEM Team Project & Field Trip

Thursday – World Languages & Cultures

Friday – Academic Monitoring/Tutoring

Tuition - Fall 2023

1 class per week: $90/month (4-5 classes per month)

5 classes per week: $450/month

Example: Creative Arts every Monday for the month of September

Tuition

Individual drop-in class: $25

Transportation options available

Tuition:
  • 1 day a week: $160 per month
  • 2 days a week: $310 per month
  • 3 days a week: $460 per month
  • 4 days a week: $610 per month
  • 5 days a week: $760 per month
Example – Every Monday for the month of September in the AM group
Tuition:
Full week of classes: $200
Example – Monday through Friday in the AM group
Tuition:
Individual drop-in class: $45 
Individual drop-ins are on a first come first serve basis- space in limited.

For any inquiries, please reach out to us at admin@youngedu.org. If you have registration-related questions, please contact the Community Center via email at parksrecreation@issaquahwa.gov or by phone at 425-837-3300. We’re here to assist you with any queries you may have.