Acera 2023-24 After School Enrichment Programs
Our in-person after school programs are open to all kids ages 5 and older. We offer experiments for curious scientists, skill building for programmers, woodworkers and artists, and rich discussions for future diplomats, all taught by specialist educators with passion and field-based expertise.
Acera has transitioned its registration system to Camp Brain.
On Camp Brain, parents and students can browse classes, access full class descriptions, and register.
All of Acera’s After School programs meet once per week from 3:30-5:30pm and are offered on a trimester basis. Unless otherwise noted on Camp Brain, classes will be offered in all trimesters.
In the 2023-24 school year, the schedule of trimesters is as follows:
Trimester 1 – September 5 through November 21
Trimester 2 – November 28 through March 8
Trimester 3 – March 13 through June 7
Mondays:
- Junior Role Playing Games, ages 5-8
- NEW! LARP: Fairies, Trolls & More, ages 5-8)
- Adventures in Fiber Arts, ages 7-10
- NEW! STEM Soccer & Basketball, ages 7-10
- Creative Computing & Robotics, ages 8-11
- NEW! Ecology, ages 9-14
- Dungeons & Dragons Role Play, ages 10-14
Tuesdays:
- Nature Through the Five Senses, ages 5-8
- NEW! Science Investigators, ages 5-7
- NEW! LEGO Spike Prime Robotics, ages 5-8
- Kids in the Kitchen, ages 7-10
- NEW! Fall Soccer Clinic, ages 7-12
- NEW! Introduction to Theater Arts, ages 9-14
- Live Action Role Play (LARP) Games, ages 7-14
- NEW! Introduction to Electronics & Physical Computing, ages 10-14
Wednesdays:
- Junior Engineering Design Challenges, ages 5-8
- Paper Arts, ages 5-8
- NEW! STEM Soccer & Basketball, ages 5-8
- Kids in the Kitchen, ages 7-10
- NEW! Digital Modeling, Simulation & Fabrication, ages 8-11
- Intro to Woodworking, ages 8-11
- NEW! LEGO Spike Prime Robotics, ages 9-12
- NEW! Introduction to Theater Arts, ages 9-14
- LARP Foundations, ages 9-14
- NEW! Trail Running, ages 12+
Thursdays:
- NEW! LARP Fantasy Quests, ages 5-8
- Experiments in Art, ages 5-8
- NEW! LEGO Spike Prime Robotics, ages 5-8
- Stop Motion Animation, ages 7-10
- Electronic Arts, ages 9-12
- Sewing Arts, ages 9-12
- Model UN Club, ages 10+
- Study Hall & Screen-free Hangout, ages 10+
- Intermediate & Advanced Woodworking Studio, ages 10-17
Fridays
- Forts, Fantasy & Friends, ages 5-8
- Science Investigators, ages 8-11
- NEW! LARP Quests, ages 9-14
- NEW! Ultimate Frisbee, ages 9-14
Refund Policy
Our Cancellation Policy is as follows: for class cancellations 2 weeks prior to the start date, we will provide a refund, less 15% to cover administrative & credit card processing costs. Alternatively, you may transfer enrollment to any other program at no charge. After 2 weeks, only transfers are available, not refunds.
No refund or reduction in fees is possible for a child who arrives late, leaves early, or attends part of a session due to illness (other than hospital stay). The cost for our afternoon programs is $45 per day.
Transportation
Bus transportation is available from Winchester Public Schools. Winchester Public School buses run from Lincoln, Lynch, McCall and Muraco Schools to Acera’s After School programs upon request. Please list Acera as your After School Program bus stop on the transportation application.
Forms
Health, dismissal, technology rentals and other required forms will be requested electronically after your online registration has been processed. New students will have to provide all forms, returning students will only be asked for updated forms as needed.
Waitlists
Once a session is fully enrolled, students can choose to be waitlisted. You can pick another session at the same time and switch should a slot become available; or just be waitlisted. When we begin a waitlist, we will do our best to find an instructor to increase the class size.
Financial Aid
Limited financial aid is available and awarded based on demonstrated need. Please download the Reed Hollett Scholarship Application form, or email us at enrichment@aceraschool.org to request an application.
“The Stop Motion class was great and really captured my son’s interest! He has continued making stop motion movies with his LEGOs.”
“My child was deeply engaged and happy in all his classes, but he particularly was excited about Lions, Tigers & Robots. He just loved making things that moved!”
“My child raves about this class. Mr. Yonatan was the best teacher and they loved reading philosophy and talking about ideas.”
“My child loved the cooking class with Mr. Dylan and became quite confident in the kitchen!”
“This was an amazing new learning experience with very engaging instructors!”
“There was lots of character concept discussion, graphic design of characters, and getting ideas from other students’ work.”
“This class was really valuable to keeping my child engaged with group learning and creative thinking.”
Team up with your friends to create characters, invent quests, and explore imaginary worlds! This class gives our youngest students the opportunity to try Dungeons & Dragons-like storytelling games with age appropriate content.
Dylan Foley is a musician, cooking enthusiast, and Acera enrichment teacher.
Young LARPers can enjoy an introduction to the immersive story experience that is Live Action Role Play. This fun and engaging class includes a variety of fantasy-themed activities like puzzles, play time, problem solving, and theater games.
A hands-on fiber arts class that stretches the boundaries of what you think is possible with thread, color, and more! Over the course of each trimester, students will design and create a variety of projects – like customized totes and pillowcases – that they can bring home.
Kathy Aluia is a textile arts specialist and Acera enrichment teacher.
Explore the technology, science, and innovation behind today's most popular sports, and have fun playing them!
Kei Phillip is a creative facilitator, dancer-performance artist, and intraprenuer with over 10 years of experience in community arts and education initiatives.
Work with a variety of digital tools – such as Scratch, Snap, and Trinket – to express ideas and develop computational thinking skills.
Danny Fain is Acera's computer science and games specialist
Science is all around us – even right in our backyard! In this class, students will explore a variety of natural sciences, like entomology, forestry, geology, and ornithology.
Will Sherwood is Acera's environmental science and enrichment teacher.
Create your own characters and tell a story as a group, guiding your heroes through quests for treasure, daring rescues, and courtly intrigue.
Chuck Lechien is a musician, Acera enrichment teacher, and experienced Dungeon Master.
An activities and crafts class inspired by nature and the seasons! Our outdoor observations will guide the way to interactive projects using found and gathered materials.
Kathy Aluia is a textile arts specialist and Acera enrichment teacher.
Use nature and Acera's very own lab to uncover the mysteries of life science, physical science, environmental science, and more!
Alexis Hibbler joined Acera in the fall of 2022 as a physics and math teacher. Alexis attended MIT – where she majored in physics – and she also attended North Carolina School of Science and Math for high school, a school for gifted students.
Explore basic robotics & coding through the LEGO Spike Prime system. Students will build their own unique robots, create interactive carnival games, and more!
Jazz Xu is a research assistant at Tufts University Center for Engineering Education & Outreach and an Acera enrichment teacher.
Chefs of all ability levels will gain confidence in basic kitchen skills, and learn delicious and nutritious recipes they can recreate at home.
Dylan Foley is a musician, cooking enthusiast, and Acera enrichment teacher.
Teamworks Soccer School is specifically designed for athletes new to the sport of soccer. This program will be offered every Tuesday starting 9/5/23 through 11/21/23 at the Winchester Community Park Grass Field.
Acera staff will walk the participants to the facility after school. Students will be picked up after class at the Teamworks facility (120 Cross St, Winchester, MA 01890). Led by the Teamworks Soccer Staff, participants will begin by learning basic soccer skills such as dribbling, passing, and shooting through different drills and games. By the end of the program, all players will be competing against each other in "small-sided" team games with the skills they've learned in the previous sessions! Participants should bring a snack, water, shinpads, and cleats. After the final sessions, participants may also opt into playing in the Teamworks Winter Soccer League as part of a team.
This class is an engaging and inclusive introduction to the world of theater arts, acting, improvisation, storytelling, stagecraft, and collaboration.
Chuck Lechien is a musician and Acera enrichment teacher.
Live action role playing, or LARP, is a collaborative and interactive community art that allows the participants to plunge themselves fully into different worlds or universes. With an array of costuming, props and scenography, this setting becomes the backdrop for a unique and astounding experience.
Students learns skills and concepts of basic electronics and physical computing through a series of projects using discrete components and microbits.
Jonathan has taught science, engineering, and arts at all levels since 1998, at Weston Middle School, The Driscoll School in Brookline, the MIT Edgerton Center, the Rashi School, and various summer programs. Prior to working in education, he was a hospital clinical engineer for many years.
Using math, geometry, and teamwork, young builders will use blocks, LEGOs, cardboard, and craft materials to bring imagined structures to life.
Dylan Foley is a musician, cooking enthusiast, and Acera enrichment teacher.
Explore geometric form through arts & crafts in this fun, hands-on class!
Kathy Aluia is a textile arts specialist and Acera enrichment teacher.
Kathy Aluia is a textile arts specialist and Acera enrichment teacher.
Explore the technology, science, and innovation behind today's most popular sports, and have fun playing them!
Kei Phillip is a creative facilitator, dancer-performance artist, and intraprenuer with over 10 years of experience in community arts and education initiatives.
Chefs of all ability levels will gain confidence in basic kitchen skills, and learn delicious and nutritious recipes they can recreate at home.
Dylan Foley is a musician, cooking enthusiast, and Acera enrichment teacher.
Explore and play with digital tools for the design and creation of 3D objects, such as jewelry, toys, and artwork.
Danny Fain is Acera's computer science and games specialist.
Join us in Acera's woodshop to learn how to properly use hand tools to hammer, saw, and build cool things, like a toy airplane, pencil box, tool tote, and more!
Adam Rosell is a Acera enrichment teacher.
Explore basic robotics & coding through the LEGO Spike Prime system. Students will build their own unique robots, create interactive carnival games, and more!
Jazz Xu is a research assistant at Tufts University Center for Engineering Education & Outreach and an Acera enrichment teacher.
This class is an engaging and inclusive introduction to the world of theater arts, acting, improvisation, storytelling, stagecraft, and collaboration.
Chuck Lechien is a musician and Acera enrichment teacher.
Live action role playing, or LARP, is a collaborative and interactive community art that allows the participants to plunge themselves fully into different worlds or universes. With an array of costuming, props and scenography, this setting becomes the backdrop for a unique and astounding experience.
Todd Wood, LARP’s instructor at Acera School, obtained his BS in Clinical Psychology with a Minor in Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Todd has been involved in community leadership through the 4-H program and has won several awards for his development of youth enrichment programming. Todd began working with L.A.P. in 2017 after discovering that it was in fact feasible to do what you love as a job. Nowadays you can find him running D&D games, teaching core curriculum, Directing events, developing Customer Service, and scheming up new ways to present art and education to the community. In his personal time, he enjoys photography, pyrography, fire spinning, leatherwork, gaming, and hiking.
Get outside, build endurance, and have fun with trail running! Runners of all ability levels can explore the trails of nearby natural areas – like the Middlesex Fells and Davidson Park – on a series of weekly walks and runs.
David Fatula is founder of GuineaFowl Adventure Company.
In this new class, kids create their own fantasy-inspired props, such as masks, wands, and other magical objects, to use while playing immerse storytelling games.
The art studio becomes the lab in this experimental mixed media art class!
Camila joined Acera after completing her Ed.M. from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. Her previous teaching experience included four years teaching art at the International School of Havana, and three years offering private art lessons in the same city. Before finding her calling as a teacher, Camila lived and worked in Havana, Cuba as a full-time visual artist.
Explore basic robotics & coding through the LEGO Spike Prime system. Students will build their own unique robots, create interactive carnival games, and more!
Jazz Xu is a research assistant at Tufts University Center for Engineering Education & Outreach and an Acera enrichment teacher.
In this inventive class, students will use stop motion animation – the filmmaking technique behind Wallace & Gromit – to create an original film of their own design.
Dylan Foley is a musician, cooking enthusiast, and Acera enrichment teacher.
Learn concepts of circuitry as you weave electronics (like LED lights) into your own original art designs.
Adrienne Jacobson is Acera's maker space specialist and enrichment teacher.
Learn to sew and create your own drawstring bag, pillow case, and more.
Kathy Aluia is a textile arts specialist and Acera enrichment teacher.
Collaborate to solve the political challenges of our time, and bring your perspective taking, problem solving, and leadership skills to area Model UN conferences.
A quiet place to work on homework, high school applications, or other screen-free activity like reading.
Jamie has experience as a high school teacher (A.P. LIterature and Composition, History, Sociology, Filmmaking, and Psychology), a department leader, a college counselor, and a student clubs moderator. She also has extensive experience leading – and inventing! – simulation-based learning, which is one of the most powerful ways to enable perspective taking, systems awareness, and deep understanding.
An open studio class for students who have woodworking experience and want the freedom to choose and design their own projects, with guidance and support.
Josh studied and trained as a civil engineer for more than fifteen years prior to changing careers to teaching in 2014. After graduating with dual degrees from University of Notre Dame in 1996, he worked as an engineer in contaminated groundwater assessment and remediation in the San Francisco Bay area. He relocated back to the Boston area in 2000 and worked for a small environmental firm designing restoration solutions for streams and wetlands impacted by human development and stormwater.
Jump time zones, step through portals into new dimensions, enter preserves of magical creatures, build epic forts, and leave realism behind!
Dylan Foley is a musician, cooking enthusiast, and Acera enrichment teacher.
Use nature and Acera's very own lab to uncover the mysteries of life science, physical science, environmental science, and more!
Alexis Hibbler joined Acera in the fall of 2022 as a physics and math teacher. Alexis attended MIT – where she majored in physics – and she also attended North Carolina School of Science and Math for high school, a school for gifted students.
Live action role playing, or LARP, is a collaborative and interactive community art that allows the participants to plunge themselves fully into different worlds or universes. With an array of costuming, props and scenography, this setting becomes the backdrop for a unique and astounding experience.
Join us this fall as we learn to play Ultimate Frisbee! Master the different throws and strategies of this fast-paced team sport, and have fun while doing it. Whether you are an Ultimate pro or an aspiring new player, all are welcome!
Will Sherwood is Acera's environment science specialist and enrichment teacher.
