Special Programs

Extracurricular Activities: Alexandria Country Day School offers a variety of extracurricular activities to its students. Teachers are encouraged to develop and lead after-school activities, based on their interests and strengths, to create unique learning opportunities for students. Multi-age grouping enables students to get to know and make friends with students outside their grade level. Click here to see a list of current activities.

ACDS Summer Camp: ACDS summer camps offer children in grades K-8 the chance to play, to grow, and to discover new horizons! Experienced educators share their passions in uniquely designed programs that feature low instructor-student ratios and incorporate age-appropriate writing and outdoor activities. Discover Alexandria's best-kept summer secrets, and awaken your son or daughter to the excitement and beauty of Washington, D.C.'s own backyard. Camps run from mid-June through July, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. PM Care is available. Information about offerings and registration will be available in January.Click here to learn more

Festival of Learning: The Festival of Learning is a yearlong, school-wide exploration of a single topic that celebrates our world, its cultures, diversity, and rich legacies. We can examine a theme in more depth than a single class or grade level curriculum allows. The Festival promotes fascinating discovery, interdisciplinary learning, co-operative projects across grades, and involvement from the parents and outside community. The culmination is an intensive "festival" of activities the week before spring break.

Olinca Exchange: ACDS 8th grade students have the opportunity to participate in a cultural exchange with the Olinca School in Mexico City. Olinca is an independent International Baccalaureate K-12 school in the heart of Mexico City. Students stay with host families for about ten days. They participate in group trips and activities with their delegation during the school day and are immersed in the customs of their host families in the evenings and weekends.

Emerging Scholars Program (ESP): Alexandria Country Day School is proud to be a founding member of the Emerging Scholars Program (ESP). ESP was established by a consortium of Northern Virginia independent schools to provide an academic and social enrichment program for a diverse group of students who, without financial assistance, could not consider an independent school education. ESP provides support to prepare students for sucess in independent schools and beyond. The fourteen-month ESP student enrichment program and all support services are free to participating students and their families. Upon completion of the program, ESP students will be placed in independent schools throughout the Washington DC area. ACDS is excited to be one of those schools. Click here for more information.