About Our Programs

For the families Mary House serves, a safe place to learn is not a given. We make it one - free of charge. The educational support children need can cost hundreds of dollars a month; afterschool programs alone run $300 - $600 per month in DC. Mary House removes that barrier entirely.
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But we are more than an afterschool program. Our Family Advocates are present in children's lives every day - before school, after school, and every moment in between. From homework help to school applications, we walk alongside families for the long haul.

What We Offer

After School Program: Serving up to 20 children, pre-K through 5th grade, Monday through Thursday from 3:30 - 6pm. Each afternoon includes homework support, STEAM enrichment, reading support, and snacks. When a slot opens, we reach out to partner schools — including Stokes Elementary — to offer it to a family in need.

Summer Camp: Each June, Mary House welcomes up to 20 children from our families and the broader community for a summer of creative arts programming and daily snacks.

Tutoring: Volunteer tutors are paired with children and youth of all ages for one-on-one academic support. For families unable to come in person, we bring tutoring to them.
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IEP Advocacy: Navigating special education evaluations and accommodations is complex and often overwhelming for immigrant families unfamiliar with the US system. Our Family Advocates support families through every step — evaluations, IEP development, and making sure every accommodation is actually implemented.

​School Navigation: From charter school lotteries to private school financial aid, scholarship applications, and college recommendation letters — we walk alongside families through every milestone in their child's educational journey.

Meet Claudia

Family Advocate & After School Program Coordinator

When Claudia arrived at Mary House as a teenager, she had moved nine times and attended nine different schools. She had no close friends, was isolating herself, and was navigating a difficult immigration situation largely alone.
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Mary House changed that. Read her story below.

When Claudia moved to Mary House she was 14 — too old for the After School Program. However, Deputy Director Sharon Murphy made sure she had a place. She became a junior counselor, showing up every single day. She was supposed to be helping. Mostly, she just participated in all the fun activities.

There was a staff member named Maribel who Claudia will never forget. When Claudia was going through her most difficult moments, Maribel made sure she was always included — in activities, in community, in life at Mary House. Once, Maribel drove to her house just to drop off paint she needed for a project.

"Her kindness will always, always be in my heart," Claudia says.

Mary House taught Claudia how to be a compassionate person. It showed her that everyone has a struggle — and that compassion changes everything. It also showed her what she wanted to do with her life.

Claudia went on to graduate from Trinity University. She is now applying to graduate schools. And every day, she comes back to Mary House — where she plans the crafts, designs the activities, and tries to be for every child what Maribel was for her.

"I get to live what I learned from previous staff members," she says. "I see kids processing hard things through art and creativity — just like I did. That is why I do this work."
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Claudia is not an exception. She is what Mary House is designed to produce.

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