Welcome to the JCAS Fall 2026 afterschool program guide. Running from mid-September to mid-November, our weekly, student-centered classes are designed to provide young makers with a supportive environment for hands-on exploration. Our intentional focus on small class sizes ensures that each student receives dedicated guidance as they dive into new creative challenges.

Throughout the semester, our students will develop practical, real-world skills across a variety of disciplines, ranging from traditional craftsmanship like carpentry and sewing to digital storytelling in creative technology and queer comic design. Every program is built around our organization’s core ethos: fostering absolute inclusivity, encouraging creative self-expression, and building deep community connections through artistic discovery.

Registration begins Tuesday, 7/28/26 at 12:00 PM

Creative Creatures

Wednesdays • 3:30-5 PM • Sept 16 – Nov 11
Ages 6-8 • $225-$350

Mythical and real, common and exotic, all are welcome at Creative Creatures class! Using a variety of art media including sculpture, painting, drawing and printmaking, artists will have fun exploring real and fanciful animals. They will make nature drawings, design habitats and create artwork based on real animals and fantastic creatures from their own imaginations. They will bring their drawings and paintings to life through sculptures.

Creative Technology and Engineering

Wednesdays • 4-5:30 PM • Sept 16 – Nov 11
Ages 9-11 • $225-$375

Join us for a creative journey packed with fun and innovation! In this class students will dive into different modules exploring the wonders of creative technology and engineering. This hands-on class is all about sparking curiosity and building skills while having a blast!Students will explore virtual reality and game design by creating their own mini-game in CoSpaces, then let classmates play it in virtual reality using Oculus! They will also design, download, and print their own custom 3D figurines, and finally build and program a robot using LEGO kits, then reimagine its purpose—like transforming it into a painting machine!

Tinker Lab

Thursdays • 3:30-5:00 PM • Sept 17 – Nov 12
Ages 6-8 • $225-$350

Welcome to the Tinkerer’s workshop where we investigate science and technology through art making. Tinkerers spend their time fully immersed in the STEAM Lab. They will investigate basic circuitry, solar energy, robots and more while creating a variety of thrilling projects like toys from recycled materials, electronics, and other devices.

SLIDING SCALE PRICING

All JCAS classes are made available to families on a sliding scale. Families choose the amount they are able to pay, considering the top end of our scale is how much it costs us to run the class. We encourage families to help support our efforts to make programs available to those in need.

If the sliding scale prices are still out of your family’s budget, we do offer scholarships. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Please give us 7 business days to process applications. All scholarship requests must be made by Friday, August 28, 2026.

Don’t worry about classes filling up, we account for this and ensure every camp is available for scholarship students.

PAY IT FORWARD PROGRAM

JCAS is a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to offering equitable access to arts and science education. We serve more than 1,500 students every year and most of our students – more than 70% – receive financial assistance.

You can now support our mission directly using our Pay It Forward Program. When registering your student for a class, you’ll have the opportunity to Pay It Forward and contribute to our Scholarship Fund. Your donation ensures that students from all backgrounds can experience the joy and enrichment of our classes and camps—at little to no cost to them.

ACCESSIBILITY & INCLUSION

We’re committed to making all programs at the Junior Center of Art and Science accessible and inclusive. Our spaces are wheelchair-friendly, and we welcome learners of all abilities and learning styles. If you or your child need accommodations, please let us know—we’re happy to help! Read our Accessibility Statement here.

You can indicate any accommodation needs or concerns when registering your child under the “Special Instructions about my child” section. You can also reach out directly at contact@juniorcenter.org

REFUND POLICY

ACTIVE now offers self-cancellations! If you need to cancel your registration for any reason, log in to your ACTIVE account, locate the registration you wish to cancel, and select ‘cancel’.
​
Our Refund Policy is as follows:
All purchases include a 10% non-refundable deposit to cover administrative costs.

From 7/28 – 8/21, you will receive a 90% refund.

From 8/22 – 9/11, you will receive a 40% refund.

From 9/12 on, we are not able to offer any refunds.

Please note:
JCAS enrollment is non-transferable. That said, we do understand that sometimes your family schedule changes! We offer a one-time enrollment transfer for your child to another week of class that has spaces available free of charge.
​
Unfortunately, because spots are limited, no credit is given for partial attendance. No portion of the tuition will be refunded if the child is absent, withdrawn, or otherwise fails to complete the activity.

Pay it Forward

By choosing a pay it forward option, you are helping make this program financially accessible for others. Your contribution will directly subsidize tuition costs for low-income members of our community. We encourage families to help support our efforts to make programs available to those in need.