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After School Activities

Encinal Means Excellence

Encinal After-School Programs

After-School Registration for Winter 2025 Session OPENS on December 8.

Please contact the ASP Coordinator, Laura Wiggs, with any questions or concerns at afterschoolactivities@encinalschool.com 

Important Information about After-School Programs

The after-school programs and sports listed on the Encinal School website are organized and run by vendors that are unaffiliated with Encinal School or the Menlo Park City School District. Encinal School is not responsible for the content of the vendors' websites or for the conduct of the activities they provide and is not liable for any damages or negative consequences from participation in any of the listed activities.  Although parent volunteers strive to keep the information on this website up-to-date, parents should always contact the vendor for the latest status of the activities as well as meeting dates and times, which may change from time to time.  In addition, Encinal School is not responsible for supervising children after the end of the school day.  Employees and volunteers of Encinal School, Encinal PTO, and the Menlo Park City School District are not liable for any errors, omissions, or changes to any of the information or activities listed herein.

Parents should make their own arrangements for ensuring their children’s arrival and participation in the activity or activities for which they are enrolled.

Encinal uses Homeroom for after-school program registrations, except where noted. All courses are subject to minimum enrollment and may be cancelled if there are not enough enrollments. See the schedule below, read more about the classes and click here to register. Below you will see:

1. Schedule of specific courses offered this quarter

2. List of descriptions for programs that may be offered by vendors throughout the school year*

*Not all classes are offered each session. The Homeroom link will have the current roster of available programs. Scholarships are available (contact Flor Espinal at fespinal@mpcsd.org), as is 0% financing through Homeroom.

Winter 2025 

First Day of Programs: January 7, 2025

Mondays

  • Pickleball - new! - Blacktop
  • Cooking: Kitchen

Tuesdays

  • Art Explorers: Create Like the Masters - new! - Classroom
  • Bulldog Flag Football: Field
  • Scratch: Classroom

Wednesdays

  • Soccer: Field

Thursdays

  • Mathletes: Classroom
  • Basketball: Blacktop
  • Tennis: Blacktop
  • Chess Club: Classroom
  • Kidizens: Classroom
  • Creative Architecture: Classroom 

Fridays

  • Bulldog Flag Football: Field

Class Descriptions 

Art Explorers: Create Like the Masters

Discover your inner artist! In this exciting and hands-on class, students will explore the techniques and styles of famous master artists like Van Gogh, Picasso, and Monet. Each session, students will learn about a different artist's unique approach to creativity and apply those ideas to their own original masterpieces. Using a variety of mediums such as paint, pastels, and collage, kids will build confidence in their artistic abilities while developing an appreciation for the world of art.

Pickleball

Pickleball is a cross between ping pong, badminton and tennis and is a sport the whole family can play together. It is fun and easy to learn, and also helps develop the skills needed to learn tennis. Pickleball is a social sport that allows kids to quickly start rallying, serving and playing games on a court which is 1/4 the size of a tennis court. The game is played with whiffle balls which move slower and have less bounce than tennis ball. Kids will improve their hand-eye coordination, reaction, fitness and movement.

Mathletes

There is so much to the world of math that kids don't see in school! In our classes, your kids will discover that math is visual, hands-on, and FUN! Our program focuses on creative problem solving in mathematics. Each week students work together tackling fun problems from Math Kangaroo, Math Olympiad, and informal team competitions. Work is started in class with print-outs, and often continued at home. We also play math games and tackle a variety of puzzles throughout the school year. We have an online curriculum that contains a large number of assignments that vary by theme and difficulty. This gives students the opportunity to tackle fun problems outside of class. Our ultimate goal is to help students become tenacious problem solvers who love math. If you like puzzles, patterns, and problem solving, come join us!

Menlo Soccer Academy

Soccer activities taught by coaches from the Menlo College men's soccer team, an NCAA Division II athletic department. Come enjoy the worlds most popular sport while having fun and learning life skills through sport. Students will play soccer, learn about team work, work on fitness during this 1 hour soccer activity class. Open to grades K-5 and players of all levels. Students will be divided by playing ability and age to ensure maximum fun and learning.

Industrial Product Design

This course is a creative planning process that leads to product prototypes. Students identify criteria and constraints related to the design and development of various products, for example, "a shirt which can also be used as pants,'' "a motorcycle with windshield wipers," or "an autonomous car with different sensors" etc. They identify and describe the major steps in the engineering design process and analyze possible solutions to the design challenge. During every session, students will build prototypes using simple materials. 

Creative Architecture

In this program, students will design and build three-dimensional buildings limited only by their imagination. They learn how architects combine functional needs for a building with creative designs. Students use simple materials to turn their ideas into reality.

Kassirer Track and Field Games

Kassirer Track and Field was created by a former pro athlete so students can have fun improving their speed, agility and fitness. Our goal is to help youth become better athletes and have fun.  Each week, players will get to play track games, utilize agility ladders, and run obstacle courses, plus participate in various track activities including relay races, sprints and long jump! Kids are encouraged to work towards accomplishing individual and team goals and take pride in their improvements. Just wear athletic shoes and attire to class and we will provide the rest!  

 

Bulldog Youth Flag Football and Fitness Fun

Whether your child is an aspiring competitive athlete or just in need of some general fitness, this class with Bulldog will TEACH, COACH, and especially INSPIRE your child through fun workouts & our famous flag football scrimmages. Send your child for some safe/healthy workouts outside on the grass in the fresh air. Arrive in cleats (optional) and bring a water bottle!  

Cooking with Junior Chef Stars

Join us as we provide junior chefs with the tools necessary to create, cook, and learn. With new recipes, including seasonal favorites, our curriculum covers nutrition, seasonal cooking, knife skills, the purpose of core ingredients, and the many cultural aspects of food. Your junior chef will develop critical life skills, all while making new friends and having a blast!

 Run Club Menlo Park

Run Club is a running program for girls and boys in 2nd-8th grades. The head coach is Scott Paterson who has coached the running team for the past 12 seasons. While our program is non-competitive and we have runners of all levels from first-time beginners to advanced-level runners, we are a serious running program for all kids. The First Rule of Run Club: Have Fun! The way to keep kids running is to keep running fun. While we are having fun running, we also teach serious running techniques such as pace, form, endurance, and speed. We weave running games into our workouts and include a social-emotional lesson/theme at every practice. We train for 10 weeks and complete a practice 5K and a final 5K. Run Club is also an official USA Track & Field youth running club. Our team ran local USATF cross-country and track races last year.  For full details, please contact Scott Paterson at scott@runclubmenlopark.org or 650-444-1001. 

Bay Area Chess

Bay Area Chess, the largest nonprofit chess provider in the West, combines fun and learning while promoting a team spirit where everyone helps each other succeed and improve. Our chess program will cover the very basics for students new to the game while also challenging experienced players with more advanced concepts. Students will have the opportunity to learn all the basics of chess and explore deeper strategies, new perspectives on problem solving and tournament preparation! Students will also learn valuable life skills through chess, such as winning and losing with grace, sportsmanship, decision making and team spirit. Our mission is to transform and enrich the lives of students through chess. Lead Coach Cameron will be returning for Fall '21 and we welcome all new and returning kids Back to the Boards with BAC!

Starfire Education - Scratch, Scratch Jr

Students learn to think like 21st century mathematicians, scientists, engineers, programmers, design thinkers, and artists. Your child will learn-by-doing, solving interesting, challenging problems, hands-on, with professional coaching from fun passionate mathematicians, scientists, engineers, programmers, design thinkers, and artists.  The Starfire Way is to create opportunities for students to learn through discovery by solving problems. Starfire programs are highly interactive, team-based, learn-by-doing, hands-on, discovery learning experiences. Learning through discovery and hands-on activities lasts a lifetime.  

Kidizens

At Kidizens, children take on a highly experiential civic leadership journey to learn 21st century real-life skills and strategies by building, managing and governing LEGO cities. They learn to become responsible citizens by developing social emotional skills, problem solving and critical thinking skills through fun, immersive role-play as city council members in a highly collaborative and engaging learning environment. 

Euro School of Tennis

After School Tennis is a GREAT way to learn the basics of tennis. Your aspiring athlete will work on their coordination, conditioning, teamwork and sportsmanship all while learning a fun new way to stay active and healthy for the rest of their lives! We provide all equipment. 

One on One Basketball

After School Hoops is a one hour per week instructional basketball course. Through games, contests and drills, players will learn the fundamentals of the game, improve their skills, and sweat through hard work. We provide all equipment.