We get lots of great questions, so we've answered some of them here.

If you don't find your questions answered, please email us anytime.

And we love your feedback! We welcome that, too.

How do I find out about upcoming programs?

The best ways to stay up to date are to join our mailing list or to check out our Upcoming Adventures page. We update the page with locations and additional program days as we confirm them.

do you have themes for your programs, so that I know what activities you'll be doing? 

Our approach to every program is to get kids out and exploring D.C. on foot and by public transportation. Each program day is designed around a curriculum that keeps kids intellectually stimulated, physically active, and engaged with community. Sometimes, we design projects around a theme, and/or connect projects or field trips to create a multidisciplinary learning experience. For example, during one of our summer sessions, we learned to press and preserve plants. We learned the history and process of plant pressing, learned to identify invasive species, made wooden plant presses as part of a carpentry unit, and visited the National Museum of Natural History's herbarium.

We research and create handouts, which we discuss at our morning meeting or throughout the day, we encourage curiosity, we learn through experiences, and we do community service projects. Because of weather considerations, and because we rely on guest speakers for some of our activities, sometimes our programs change at the last minute. We encourage families to sign up for the UAS model, which is rooted in community-based, experiential learning, rather than for a particular program on a particular day.  For more specific information, please refer to the FAQ below, “What does a typical Squad day look like?” or email us.

What does a typical Squad day look like?

We start our day with a morning meeting, where we review our rules for safety and conduct, and learn about the day’s focus (e.g., history, architecture, culture, science, nature) in ways that accommodate the different ages/intellectual levels of our Squad members. Squad leaders—smart, engaging, creative people—lead these discussions. We generally head out--we do lots of walking and exploring!--for several hours for hiking, picnicking, or an indoor field trip, sometimes with a guest to join us, like a park ranger or an environmental educator. We aim for field trips that are different from school field trips. For example, we’ve gone to Volkswagen to learn how cars work, to a restaurant/public space to learn about its use of recycled materials in its furniture and design, and to Rock Creek Park to learn about erosion while hiking by the water. If we go on more traditional field trips, we take a particular angle. When we went to the National Zoo, the trip was designed and led by one of our Squad leaders who had been an animal husbandry intern at a different zoo. She taught the Squad about the lesser known animals she’d worked with, like the white-cheeked gibbon and the golden lion tamarin.

When we return to Squad headquarters, we might do a cooking project, play games and run around, have an art/design project, or participate in a UAS series, like “Exploring Writers,” Curiosity Corner,” or “Imagination Station.”

My Squad member is not experienced with D.C. public transportation. How do you manage this?   

Part of the Urban Adventure Squad experience is learning how to get around our wonderful city. Some of our older Squad members are already independent commuters, and others have no experience with buses and trains. Our Squad leader-to-Squad member ratio is one Squad leader to between six and eight children, depending on their ages. Safety is our highest priority. Squad members love the adventure of traveling on public transportation, and we love showing them how it works and where it can take them, and cultivating an interest in navigation, urban design, and improving public transportation.

Where do you hold your programs?

We’re lucky to have great relationships with community organizations and businesses that are happy to have us, and who provide us with great spaces for playing and creating. For more specific information about these spaces, or to bring a Squad program to a space you have in mind, please contact us.

My Squad member is not excited to go to UAS with her little brother. She thinks they’ll spend time doing “babyish” stuff.

We have lots of sibling pairs, and we make sure to treat all of them as individual Squad members. We believe strongly that our one-room schoolhouse model offers children great opportunities to learn from and help each other, and we encourage them to both work together and to carve out space/time for themselves. We work hard to make sure kids of all ages are intellectually and physically challenged at their own levels. We often separate by age for certain activities, like science experiments, writer’s workshops, and hikes. The result is that Squad members make friends of different ages from schools all over D.C. Our hope is that they find a peaceful, supportive place to be themselves, and to remain part of our Squad community as they grow up. We hope that our current Squad members will be Squad leaders one day!

Why don't you offer before/After care?

We’d like to provide more coverage for families that need it, but we don’t yet have the capacity to hire separate staff for extended morning or afternoon hours. We need our Squad leaders to go home after their 8-hour workday to rest and get energized for the next day. We'd be very glad to try to help you find carpool options for the UAS program you’re registering for.

How do you deal with weather concerns on days that it's really hot or cold? Do you stay inside?

We carefully balance our aim to get the kids out exploring with weather concerns, whether it's on a 95-degree day or bitterly cold. We have never had to stay inside all day due to weather concerns, and we run programs year-round. Check out this article about our hike through Dumbarton Oaks Conservancy on one of the coldest days of the year! http://dopark.org/environmental-education-program-leaving-no-child-indoors/

Is UAS a nonprofit YET?

Yes! The IRS approved our application for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in March 2017. We're beginning the transition process and will share news along the way. Becoming a nonprofit is an incredible step for our whole Squad community; it will allow us to access resources and funding to make our programs more broadly accessible and to develop a robust, innovative, energized learning community. 

I'd love to see UAS become sustainable and be able to offer more programs in locations across D.C. How can I help?

You can help us spread the Squad love by telling your school communities and favorite listservs about us, and by following us on Twitter (@UrbanAdvSquad). We can often run special programs at or near particular schools if we get a core group of interested families. Letting your schools know that you love our programs helps, too! We want to work with schools to provide support for families on days when schools are closed, and we want to partner with schools on field trips and other experiential learning opportunities.

Urban hiking? Cooking demos? D.C. history and culture? Sounds fun. Can I come?

Absolutely! If you're interested in a special program for a group of adults, a family, a conference based in D.C., or a group of families, please contact us.

Can I get regular updates about upcoming programs?

Yes, we send something out about once every few weeks. Please click here to join our email distribution list.

WHY CAN'T YOU ACCEPT LAST-MINUTE OR WALK-IN REGISTRATIONS?

UAS programs require a high-degree of research, planning, logistics, and care. We must ensure that our adult-to-child ratios are appropriate for hiking through urban neighborhoods, on trails in the woods, and along bodies of water, and that our Squad members get the attention they need throughout the day. We're unable to ensure these ratios if we rely on last-minute registrations.

The success of our programs is rooted in meticulous curriculum planning and staying flexible when we need to (for example, during public transportation delays, if a field trip is canceled, or if the weather affects our plans). For those reasons, we're unable to register Squad members at the last-minute or on the same day, unless they're coming off of a waitlist.