Murch Plus
Murch Plus offers after-school enrichment, sports and creative classes on a trimester basis (fall, winter and spring). Classes meet from 3:30-4:30 PM and are run by Murch teachers and staff. Information about offerings and registration windows will be posted on the Murch homepage.
Capitol Language Services
Capitol Language Services (CLS) After-School Program is an independent, local organization founded in 2006. Our mission is to create an educational, affordable, safe and high-quality after-school program. When CLS started, we offered classes that aimed to strongly foster interest for foreign language in students at the elementary-school level. Over time, CLS has evolved into a complete after-school program that offers not only language classes but also other exciting enrichment activities, camps, and before-school care.
Typical afternoon: Pre-K through Grade 1
3:00-3:30 – Attendance and snack
3:30-4:30 – Outdoor recess or enrichment (Spanish, dance, yoga, or art)
4:30-5:30 – Manual activity or enrichment (Spanish, dance, yoga, or art)
5:45-6:00 – Dismissal
Typical afternoon: Grades 2-5
3:00-3:30 – Attendance and snack
3:30-4:30 – Outdoor recess or enrichment (Spanish, dance, yoga, or art)
4:30-5:30 – Homework or STEM activities or enrichment (Spanish, dance, yoga, or art)
5:45-6:00 – Dismissal
Location
CLS is located across the street from Murch at 4900 Connecticut Avenue inside St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.
Schedule
CLS enrolls children for before and after-school care M-F and starts the first day of school. CLS offers camps on all school closings, some holidays, and April break.
Registration
Registration for the 2023-24 school year is available on our website. CLS's generous financial aid program aims to include those families who might need extra support. We want to consider every child who would like to enroll and attend our enrichment classes. For more info about financial aid, please contact CLS office at (202) 597-5453.
Contact
CLS office is open M-F 10 am-2 pm. Call with questions: (202) 597-5453.
Wonders
Wonders is a non-profit provider of accredited early childhood education, before and after school care, and summer camp with flexible programs for children ages 8 weeks through the sixth grade. Currently, Wonders operates 9 locations in Washington, DC, Montgomery County, MD, and Fairfax, VA. For over 45 years, Wonders has been providing a safe, caring learning environment parents can trust and depend upon. Wonders believes children develop and learn through play in a nurturing and diverse community. Our teachers and staff intentionally create a fun learning environment that reflects not only the cultures of the families they serve but the world around us as well. Wonders believes this validates children’s experiences, teaches the importance of valuing similarities and differences, and builds the connection between home and school.
Location
The after school program will take place in the Murch cafeteria.
Schedule
Afternoon dismissal is 6:00 pm. At this time, we will operate only on days when school is in session. In the future, we will offer programming when school is not in session, such as conference days.
Enrollment
We offer full time, part time, and drop in enrollment for PreK through fifth grade students.
Curriculum
We incorporate five learning areas that teach social-emotional learning and support cognitive growth. Our program planning integrates children’s interests and extends school day learning.
1. Friendship/SEL (with Second Step Curriculum)
2. Health and Wellness
3. Community/Service Learning
4. STEM learning
5. Imagination and Play
We structure the programming to meet the developmental needs of the students. Wonders staff meet weekly to plan activities that reflect the interests of the children enrolled in the program.
Daily Schedule
Wonders teachers create weekly lesson plans that offer a variety of fun activities each day. A typical day may look like this:
3:30 - 3:45 snack and free play (blocks, board games, drawing, reading)
3:45 - 4:15 outside free play
4:15 - 4:30 afternoon meeting - a teacher-led meeting that includes age appropriate group activities such as: trivia games, question of the day, read-a-loud, and review of the afternoon’s schedule
4:30 - 5:30 choices: homework, art activity, active cooperative games
5:30 - 6:00 Drop Everything And Read, homework, board games
Each afternoon is structured so that children can make choices that meet their needs and interests. We foster community through mixed age group activities and provide opportunities for grade specific experiences.
If desired, children and their parents can sign a mutually agreed upon Homework Contract that Wonders teachers will use to support a child’s effective use of homework time offered.
Ratios
Connection is an important aspect of our work with children. We maintain a 12:1 ratio in programs where there are fewer than 50 children. In programs with 50 or more children, our ratio is 10:1. We do this to ensure that we are able to develop close and meaningful relationships with every child in our care.
Snack
A snack will be served each day. If there are any food allergies, we will work with your family to identify alternative snacks.
Registration and Tuition
Wonders uses Procare Management Software for registration, enrollment maintenance, family information and tuition invoicing. Procare is a secure, comprehensive system that provides parent access through the app or desktop version, and provides functions for parent/teacher communication, tuition payment, and monthly newsletters. Wonders uses Procare at all of our locations and families have found it to be very user friendly and secure.
Tuition rates are available here. Tuition is the same every month regardless of the number of program days in each month.
Please click here to complete pre-registration. Once you have submitted your pre-registration, you will receive a link to Procare to complete your registration and submit your registration fee through Procare’s encrypted site. An enrollment packet with forms and additional information about Wonders’ policies and procedures will be sent. As part of your enrollment packet, you will receive an authorization form for Tuition Express to set up your automatic payment information.
Contact
Please contact us if you have any questions.