After School

The After school Program at High Tech Elementary Explorer is play-based for students in Kindergarten through 5th grade. Programs with a play-based philosophy “teach children to think creatively so they may succeed in a complex and ever-changing world” (Evanston). Play positively impacts a child’s intellectual, social, emotional and physical development. Play is a way of learning for children.   Values that support learning through play include:

• Children are viewed as thinkers, reflecting about their world.
• Purposeful play is when children learn through the process of their efforts.
• Children gain knowledge by building on a path of ever increasing knowledge.
• Children are encouraged to make choices and practice individual decision-making” (Evanston).

Each day in our program, children can choose between outdoor play, arts and crafts, and rhythm and movement. Twice a week, science activities are offered, and on Fridays there is a cooking club.  With an emphasis on play-based learning and fun, students enrolled in the After School Program are given organized activity options, but are not required to participate in them. Students have the freedom to roam between supervised areas and make their own activity choices. The opportunities for structured and unstructured periods enable children to learn at their own rate. HTeX invites independent vendors in to offer enrichment classes in Spanish, tennis, yoga, and ball sports.  These activities require a fee and parents pay the vendors directly. Vendors are required to offer a small number of scholarships for each class, so please contact Tatiana Steward tsteward@hightechhigh.org.