Arts After School @ The Arts League
2026-27 SY
Thoughtful, creative classes that build confidence for the young artist in your life.
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Enroll now
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Watch your young sprout grow!
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Enroll now * Watch your young sprout grow! *
âś´ Overview âś´
In our youth programs, students will explore a variety of visual, sculptural, and mixed-media arts throughout the year in groups split by grade level. Each day features different themes led by our team of teaching artists.
School pick-up from Penn Alexander School and Henry C. Lea Elementary School between 3 and 4 PM is included in monthly tuition
Snack + Workshops from 4-6 PM
Full-Day Holiday Care Available For:
đ–Ą” September 18th: Professional Development Day
đ–Ą” October 9th: Professional Development Day
đ–Ą” November 3rd : Election Day
đ–Ą” November 16th: Report Card Conferences
đ–Ą” November 25th: Professional Development Day
đ–Ą” January 15th: Professional Development Day
đ–Ą” January 29th: Report Card Conferences
đ–Ą” February 12th: Professional Development Day
đ–Ą” March 10th : Eid al-Fitr
đ–Ą” March 29th: Professional Development Day
đ–Ą” April 16th: Report Card Conferences
đ–Ą” May 17th: Eid al-Adha
đ–Ą” May 18th: Election Day (tentative)
Program Closure Dates:
đ–Ą” September 21st: Yom Kippur
𖥔 October 12th: Indigenous Peoples’ Day
𖥔 November 11th: Veterans’ Day
đ–Ą” November 26th-27th: Thanksgiving Recess
đ–Ą” December 23rd-Janurary 3rd: Winter Recess
đ–Ą” January 18th : MLK Day
𖥔 February 15th: President’s Day
đ–Ą” March 26th : Good Friday
đ–Ą” March 20th-28th: Spring Recess
đ–Ą” May 31st: Memorial Day
âś´ Additional Offerings âś´
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In addition to our regular after-school programming, we offer drop-in camps on school closure days. Please see the information below for details on these offerings.
Subscription Plans
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Subscription Plans *
For each subscription plan, you will be contacted about which day you’d like to enroll your child in after school care, as well as school and registration information, within a week of purchasing. Please make sure your accurate email is entered in the payment link and it is one you check often.
One day per week
This monthly subscription includes pick up from PAS or Lea as well as two days of full day care included. Fill out the Student Information Form prior to beginning after care.
Two days per week
This monthly subscription includes pick up from PAS or Lea as well as four days of full day care included. Fill out the Student Information Form prior to beginning after care.
This monthly subscription includes pick up from PAS or Lea as well as six days of full day care included. Fill out the Student Information Form prior to beginning after care.
Three days per week
Four days per week
This monthly subscription includes pick up from PAS or Lea as well as eight days of full day care included. Fill out the Student Information Form prior to beginning after care.
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This monthly subscription includes pick up from PAS or Lea as well as ten days of full day care included. Fill out the Student Information Form prior to beginning after care.
Five days per week
Semester 1
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Semester 1 *
Semester 1: August 24th, 2026-December 22nd, 2026
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There's something innately special about making things for yourself, your family, and your home. In Monday’s hands-on Home Economics class, students will explore the art of home design: cooking simple recipes, learning to sew and mend, tending a small herb garden, crafting things for their living spaces, and discovering the creativity they can weave into their everyday life.
Rooted in the belief that home skills are inherently life skills, Home Economics will give students the confidence that comes from knowing how to make, fix, and care for the things around them.
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In this hands-on animation class, students will sculpt their own original creatures and characters out of clay and bring them to life frame by frame using stop motion techniques. Along the way, they'll also get a taste of handmade animation in all its forms — from flip books to claymation — as they learn the basics of character design, storyboarding, and animation and make a movie of their very own with patience and a whole lotta clay.
This class is built around the idea that storytelling and craftsmanship always go hand in hand, and will give students the patience and problem-solving skills that come from building something from scratch.
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Join us on Wednesdays for Storytelling and World Building! In this class, kids dream up characters, worlds, and adventures, then bring them to life through drawing, collage, puppetry, and book design. We'll build our own worlds from the ground up: mapping out lands, inventing backstories and creatures, and designing simple games where our stories become something you can actually play.
Some weeks we'll illustrate our own tales; other weeks we'll build story maps. Younger artists will focus on picture-driven storytelling and imaginative play, while older students will stretch into character development, world building, and designing their own games and story rules to share with the group. No matter the age, every kid will see themselves as a storyteller and world-builder.
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Join us on Thursdays for this sculpture-focused class! Using a variety of materials and techniques, such as clay, wire, plaster, cardboard, wood, found objects, and more, students will experiment with form, perspective, and texture as they design and construct their own original sculptures.
Shape Shifters will help students think spatially and problem-solve with their hands, skills that extend far beyond our classrooms.
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Weekend Wind Down is a relaxed, studio-style class where students explore drawing, painting, and printmaking at their own pace. Low pressure with high creativity— the perfect way to unwind at the end of the school week.
Our teachers believe creativity needs unstructured time to flourish and Weekend Wind Down will give students the space to slow down and follow their natural curiosity with what different materials can do.
Semester 2
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Semester 2 *
Semester 2: January 4th, 2027 - June 9th, 2027
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Nature-inspired drawing and observational art
From bare winter branches to full spring bloom, Monday’s young artists will keep a running field journal all semester long, sketching the natural world as it transforms around them. As the weather and earth changes around us, each week will bring a new focus: bark rubbings, bird studies, botanical illustration, and more. We’ll build sharp observational skills alongside a love for the outdoors.
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Painting, printmaking, and drawing inspired by local Philadelphia artists
Each month, students explore a different Philly-based artist's style and medium, moving between painting, printmaking, and drawing. From mural-inspired portraits to layered block prints, these young artists will build technical skills while learning about the creative community right in their own city!
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Sculpture and 3D art using natural and found materials
Twigs, stone, clay, and recycled materials become the building blocks for our hands-on sculpture projects all semester. Students will construct everything from replica animal shelters to spring habitat dioramas, exploring how form, texture, and structure come together in the natural world.
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Bookmaking and paper arts
Students will learn the craft of handmade books from the ground up: folding, stitching, and binding their own journals, zines, and accordion books.
Each student builds a growing collection of handmade books all semester, culminating in a final bound journal/sketchbook/scrapbook/work of art that showcases everything they've learned.
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Students will bring characters to life using paper mâché, fabric, and natural materials! They’ll design and construct their own masks and puppets from the ground up. Along the way, they'll explore how color, texture, and form can express personality and emotion, drawing inspiration from the natural world and the creatures, characters, and stories that live in it.
Students in grades K-5 are invited to join our School Holiday Day Camps throughout the year! Whether your child already attends our Arts After School program or you're new to our community, everyone is welcome.
Students in grades K-5 are invited to join our School Holiday Day Camps throughout the year! Whether your child already attends our Arts After School program or you're new to our community, everyone is welcome.
Camp runs from 8 AM-6 PM.
Explore the themes for each school holiday below in the dropdown menu.
Registering siblings? Use the code SIBLINGS5 at checkout!
Drop-in Day Camps are here!
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Drop-in Day Camps are here! *
School Holidays
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Each school holiday day camp follows a theme, which will be announced 8/17.
September 18th
Theme: Eye-Spy: Cameras, Puzzles, and Decoding
October 9th
Theme: Spooky Season: Weird & Wonderful Art
November 3rd
Theme: Pocket-Sized Worlds & Miniatures!!
November 16th
Theme: Life Aquatic: Under The Sea
November 25th
Theme: A Day With Clay
January 15th
Theme: TBA
January 29th
Theme: TBA
February 12th
Theme: TBA
March 10th
Theme: TBA
March 29th
Theme: TBA
April 16th
Theme: TBA
May 17th
Theme: TBA
May 18th
Theme: TBA
Frequently Asked Questions
General questions & Information
If you have any additional questions, please reach out to us via email.
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For our After School program, we are available to pick up from Penn Alexander or Lea Elementary. For all other schools, students need to be dropped off by a parent or guardian at 4 pm at The Arts League.
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Fourth and fifth graders can walk themselves home from TAL at the end of the day. They must have written permission from their parent or guardian. Please email program@theartsleague.org to arrange this.
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The designated pick up window is 5:15-6PM, but parents are welcome to pick up their child at any time.
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We operate under a grade range instead of a designated age range. Participants must currently be in grades K to 5th grade.
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Yes! Snack is served at 4 PM. If a student gets dropped off later during the day, they can still receive a snack. We partner with Nutritional Development Services, which provides the snacks free of charge. If your child has any dietary restrictions, please let us know.
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All teaching staff and adults participating in any and all youth programs are required to submit clearances as mandated by Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law 23 Pa.C.S. Chapter 63 (Act 153 of 2014).
Required PA clearances are:
Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance
Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Criminal Background Check
These clearances must be current and on file prior to the start of programming.