After-School Program

Russell Elementary students are invited to spend their afternoons and evenings playing, learning, and creating at Morris Street Learning Garden.

Here at MSLG, we anticipate and welcome the phenomenon known as “after school restraint collapse” in which children’s developing nervous systems “collapse” after coping with the intense demands of the school day. This phenomenon impacts each child differently, but is commonly characterized by:

-increased emotional volatility

-changes in energy level (either hyperactivity or notable fatigue)

-general difficulties with meeting “behavioral expectations” enforced in most typical after-school settings.

That’s part of the reason that “care is our curriculum:” kids are guided through this difficult period of the day with compassion while being taught to recognize and address their unmet needs.

Enroll for the 2026-2027 School Year
A gray tabby cat lying on a bed among books, with sunlight streaming in. The books include a book titled 'A Kids Book About Systemic Racism" and a smaller board book entitled "Our Skin."
A child with a shaved head sitting on a beige rug, holding a black chicken. The child is wearing a light green shirt and red plaid shorts with black socks. A towel and a coat rack are in the background.
Two young boys standing on a step stool, measuring homemade tomato sauce and pouring it into a large pot on a kitchen stove in a home kitchen with wooden cabinets and tiled walls.
“We were so relieved to find Caitlyn’s program. Instead of sitting at a table in a gymnasium and being told what to do for several more hours, our kids are able to decompress and seek out personal fulfillment that recharges them after a long day of school.”
— Parent