McDonogh After-School Enrichment

Would you like to enhance your middle schooler’s learning?

McDonogh School is offering virtual after-school enrichment courses for students in grades 6-8. The engaging classes, developed to strengthen mathematics and language arts skills, will be taught by our talented middle school faculty. Students will benefit from McDonogh’s LifeReady model of education that emphasizes communication, collaboration, and creativity while adhering to national standards in core subject areas. 

Students will work synchronously and asynchronously and come away with a portfolio of growth-focused work; confidence as a student when they return to their primary institution; and personal experiences of working with a McDonogh teacher and peer group. Class size is limited to 15, allowing teachers to give each student individual attention as they participate in carefully curated lessons.

Fall Session

Courses will run twice a week from October 26 through November 20.

Designing and Building through STEM

Mondays: 4:30-6:00 p.m. and Fridays: 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Grades: 6-8
Cost: $215
Instructor: Willie Little
Technical Requirements:  Computer, Zoom, Wifi, Canvas, camera for videos and photos (phone is acceptable), Google account
Materials Needed: Instructor will provide list once registered. 

Students will combine science and math concepts to build towers, bridges, and roller coasters, and even design an apartment! Each activity will contain differentiated math instruction so that students in different grades can review concepts that coordinate with their completed level of math or preview concepts that coordinate with their current level.

By the end of this course, students will have:

• An understanding of the forces involved with engineering and construction, as well as why triangles are used.
• Experience with trial and error and how trial and error affects the design process.
• An introduction to energy transfer, especially between potential energy and kinetic energy.
• Experience with architecture and design as related to the construction of apartments, as well as cost analysis based on the square footage of different types of rooms and location.

Note: A minimum of 10 students is required for this course. In the event the class does not meet the minimum number of enrollees, the course will be canceled and refunds will be issued.

Register Now

Reading, Writing, and Thinking with Literature

Mondays: 4:30-6:00 p.m. and Thursdays: 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Grades: 6-8
Cost: $215
Instructor: Anne-Marie Botek
Technical Requirements: Computer, Zoom, Wifi, Canvas, email
Materials Needed: composition notebook/journal for reflection

Students will focus on the five elements of a good story. Along with a series of activities designed to deepen reading and critical thinking skills, they will respond to and receive feedback on two different analytical prompts that will be used to assess their understanding of key concepts in the novel.

Students will produce a portfolio that contains the following:

• A notebook of daily journal entries that focuses on building each student's personal connection with the text
• Two polished analytical paragraphs
• A poem
• A short story

Texts: The Giver by Lois Lowry  and “The Pedestrian,” a short story by Ray Bradbury.

Note: A minimum of 10 students is required for this course. In the event the class does not meet the minimum number of enrollees, the course will be canceled and refunds will be issued.

Register Now

About Our Teachers

Anne-Marie Botek began her professional career as a writer for, and eventual editor-in-chief of, AgingCare.com. During her time in this role, she penned more than a thousand articles and managed a team of over a dozen bloggers. In 2013, she won min's Rising Start in Media award for her written work, and she was asked to present one of her feature stories at the 2014 Aging in America Conference. While working with adults was fulfilling, it was working with young people that truly inspired Anne-Marie. She was drawn back to her high school alma mater, McDonogh, in 2016 to begin a career in education. Since then, Anne-Marie has served as a middle school ELA teacher, a position that allows her to pass on her knowledge of and passion for the written word to her students.

Willie Little is entering his 24th year of teaching. In his time as an educator, he has taught middle school science and math classes, served as coordinator and director of several summer and afterschool enrichment programs, tutored math and science including AP math and science courses, and received awards for teaching excellence in Howard County and at Calvert School. In his seventh year at McDonogh School, Willie is an eighth grade math teacher, working with students in Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2, and Pre-Calculus. He is also the director of the Middle Grades Partnership Program at McDonogh. He continues to share his passion for STEM with students.