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
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
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
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
Tuition:
Tuition:
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.