Arlington Community Education

Learn how to ease tension, increase circulation, and relieve pain with simple massage techniques you can do on yourself. We’ll use our own hands, fingers, elbows and other household items like tennis balls to treat ourselves to effective massages. Discover how to activate energy meridians, stimulate the lymphatic system, and use acupressure points to reduce pain, decrease stress, and bring greater harmony to your body. Through demonstration, practice time, and plenty of opportunities to ask questions, you’ll start to notice the benefits of this practice in no time.

Bring your American Girl doll to dress up, do her hair, and meet new friends. Create a storybook and matching accessory to take home for more hours of fun. We will also host a party where we dress up and practice good manners. We will explore the values embraced by the AG book series. Please note: Bring your own doll each day or contact us upon registration if you need a doll to borrow.

Journey around the world as we explore animals from many habitats. Learn about different creatures and create art focusing on their unique characteristics. Flex your creativity and imagination and have fun experimenting with collage, drawing, painting, and sculpture. Destinations may include the rainforest, the North and South Poles, and the ocean.

Discover how apps work on your phone or iPad and learn how to make your own. In this no-experience-required course, we use MIT App Inventor software to make fun, creative apps for Android phones and tablets. We will also explore wireless communication by building custom bluetooth hardware controllers and readouts for our apps.

Explore your world and express your uniqueness through art. You are special and one-of-a-kind, and there are so many parts that make you the one and only you. Create an imaginative world full of your favorite things, places, and animals. You will paint, print, and sculpt art that shows how special you are.

Artist trading cards are a popular way to create, trade, and collect mini works of art with friends and family. Started in Switzerland, the concept has traveled the globe. Cards are the size of baseball cards and are signed and dated by the artist. Working with various art materials and themes, create your own original series to trade, give as gifts, or keep.

Clustered along a half-mile stretch of Boston’s Huntington Avenue stands a dense concentration of cultural institutions, on what is now designated as the “Avenue of the Arts” and the adjoining Fenway Cultural District. From McKim, Mead & White's Symphony Hall to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, this tour tells the stories of the institutions, architects, and benefactors behind this remarkable concentration of establishments dedicated to the fine and performing arts, culture, education, religion, and sports. Please note: Meeting location will be included in the Course Reminder email. All walks meet rain or shine.

Come outside and play! Get moving and have fun playing tons of different backyard games. Aim flying discs into cans during Kan Jam, try to get bolas to catch onto the rungs of our Ladder Bowl, toss bean bags into a classic Cornhole board, and more.

Let’s shoot hoops! Whether you’re new to basketball or a hall-of-famer, meet on the court for new and high-energy skills and drills. We will work on dribbling, shooting, and defense through friendly, competitive games.

Please note: This class is for rising seniors only (not parents). Rising high school seniors are encouraged to join the class to build skills that will enable them to succeed in college interviews. As a former college admissions officer, Mindy Popp will share expert guidance to help students feel confident and knowledgeable when speaking with college interviewers. Students will learn tips to best prepare for and engage in the interviews. What to wear, what questions to expect, and all the do’s and don’ts of college interviewing will be covered. With the start of college interviewing season in the late summer, this class will be beneficial for all college applicants.

During the Gilded Age of the late nineteenth century, Boston's Back Bay was alive with social clubs and thriving cultural institutions. On this tour, we will explore the favorite haunts of Boston's upper-class, often known as "Boston Brahmins." Though "Brahmins" had a reputation for being exclusive and elitist, many of these men and women were active in making our city—and the whole nation—a better place to live. They fought to abolish slavery and to recognize women’s rights, and they built libraries, colleges, museums and orchestras. Though this elite generation of wealthy activists was often philanthropic and well-intentioned, on this tour we’ll also discuss their limitations and shortcomings. You will visit several sites throughout the Back Bay, including the place where Isabella Stewart Gardner lived before she transformed a Venetian Palace into a museum; the location of MFA sponsored art lessons for women; and Trinity Church where Phillips Brooks brought the social gospel to his parishioners and won the hearts of Boston’s rich and poor Please note: Meeting location will be included in the Course Reminder email. All walks meet rain or shine.

If you’re constantly writing and doodling in your notebooks, join us to develop your own style of hand lettering and create beautiful handmade gifts. We will practice using traditional calligraphy fountain pens as well as more modern brush pens. Create customized cards, vision boards, and quote posters, while discussing how having a creative outlet can reduce stress.

Let’s get creative with electricity! In this hands-on electronics course, gain experience creating your own electronics. Design custom light-up greeting cards, electric games, mazes, and even musical instruments. Each day consists of a circuitry lesson and a hands-on project, using components like lights, buzzers, switches, motors, and sensors.

Create a variety of imaginative and useful objects using clay. We will discuss form and function, practice different hand-building techniques (pinching, coiling, and slab building), and apply surface decoration as we build sculptural, functional, and fantastical pieces of art. One piece will be fired at the end of the week. Please note: Pick up will be available the following week. Tuition includes all materials and kiln firing.

For Arlington residents only This four day course is designed for rising seniors looking to get a jump start on their college application process, or who want help managing the many requirements of the application process. Work with AHS school counselors, along with English faculty to explore topics including: college application time management and scheduling, resume-building, college essay and supplement writing, college interview preparation, and financial aid awareness. Please note: Students may enroll for one week only.

Spend Tuesday evenings with fellow French language lovers, conversing in a warm and inviting setting. This program is designed for students who are proficient in present, imparfait, and passé composé, and who are able to use object pronouns. The instructor will offer exercises designed to increase fluency.