Big Learning

Foreign Language in Elementary School (FLES): The FLES program has served approximately 2000 K to 6 students per year since 1954. Current offerings include French, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and Spanish Literacy for Spanish Speakers. This is a sequential, immersion-based program; our instructors are native speakers who offer cultural notes and serve as role models to students in our diverse county. Children gain confidence in hearing and speaking a new language as well as cultural awareness. The Spanish Literacy program provides instruction in reading and writing Spanish for students who speak Spanish at home. Research consistently demonstrates that early foreign language learning increases cognitive development and is an important component of achieving fluency in a foreign language. Research also shows that literacy in one's native language is instrumental in acquiring English language literacy. Over the course of the 2022-2023 school year, FLES served 1119 students. 272 of the 1119 students received financial assistance in the form of a full or partial scholarship to the program.

Science and Engineering Middle School program (S&E MS). Gadget Factory, It's Electric, and Robotics are offered at middle schools in Montgomery County's Excel Beyond the Bell program. Gadget Factory and It's Electric are at the forefront of the movement to engage middle school students, expose them to STEM careers, and build the skills and resilience necessary for the 21st century. In the 2022 to 2023 school year, Big Learning served approximately 120 grade 6 to 8 through Excel Beyond the Bell.

Science Pre-K and elementary program: MCCPTA EPI has been a recognized leader in informal science education for decades. Our after school enrichment modules each explore a science topic through visuals, demonstrations, and hands-on activities. Children form hypotheses, conduct experiments, record data, and re-examine their hypotheses through the scientific method. Participants in our program gain a broader sense of what science encompasses and are more likely to envision themselves as potential scientists at the end of the session than at the beginning. In 2022-2023, 1233 students were served as well as 112 pre-K students. Of the 1233 elementary students, 304 received full or partial need-based scholarships.