The Church of the Advocate continues its ongoing interest in children and youth with new Pennsylvania licensed programs designed to serve the Advocate community.  These programs operate under the guidance of an Advisory Committee composed of volunteers, parents and staff, with ex-officio representation by the Washington Community Outreach Foundation and the Church of the Advocate.

Washington Wonderkids is a preschool program for children aged 3 to 5. The program implements the Pennsylvania's Preschool Core Curriculum and follows state literacy and mathematics standards for young children. The preschool program is staffed by a Masters level, state certified teacher, and an assistant.

Whiz Kids is offered daily for elementary school children between the ages of 5 and 13 – after school throughout the school year and all day during the summer. The program recruits from neighboring schools, Child Care Information Services (CCIS) and within the community. The program seeks out students who can benefit from the knowledge, skills, experience and extra attention offered to them. The teaching staff consists of one licensed teacher and assistants for each group. Whiz Kids follows the Philadelphia School District's Core Curriculum standards.

These programs provide safe, nurturing and age appropriate academic programs for children within the North Philadelphia community. Our goal is to have the children feel safe, loved, and attended to. The staff encourages children to display positive self-expression, and promote self confidence. These specific aims are incorporated throughout our educational programs, as well as in the behaviors of all of our participants and adults.

The Washington Wonderkids Preschool Program operates throughout the entire calendar year. Preschool students arrive as early 7 am and can remain until 5:45 p.m. to accommodate the needs of their parents engaged in work, higher education, training programs, or who are seeking employment. Preschoolers follow a daily schedule involving fun group and individual learning activities. Preschoolers are served nutritional meals provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Child & Adult Care Food Program.

Whiz Kidselementary school age students generally arrive to the program at 3:15 p.m. They are served snacks and particiapte educational programs. The recreational and daily enrichment activities are carried out in the gym, courtyard and auditorium areas. Skilled professionals in theatre arts, dance, literacy, storytelling, computers, sports and technology, instruct students in these areas.

Homework is a mandated component for the Whiz Kids and all students are required to participate in completing homework assignments. Homework support is offered in reading, writing and math fluency and enhancement as well as independent and group reading activities. To facilitate the completion and accuracy of homework assignments, after school and daytime teaching and volunteer staff, often coordinate to ensure that students have their daily work, and/or extra copies of the materials for students who may have misplaced or forgot them.

Weekly, students are escorted to the Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP Law Firm for one-on-one reading instruction. Volunteers from the law firm and the PHILADELPHIA READS program help students with reading, writing and comprehension skills. PHILADELPHIA READS is under the leadership of the Mayor of Philadelphia and is part of the national Reading First Initiative to ensure that all school children read well and independently by the end of third grade. It is a collaborative effort with the School District and the Free Library of Philadelphia. The Washington Community Outreach Foundation and the Morgan Lewis & Bockius Law Firm, have committed to working together for the benefit of our students and provides transportation and snacks.

All students participate in literacy and math enrichment activities on a daily basis. The instruction is provided by cadet teachers currently enrolled in a teaching program, and an assistant. Student progress is closely monitored by the Program Director and teaching staff, via periodic assessments using leveled reading instruments, along with other assessment methods such as rubrics and running records to rate performance on specific assignments. These assessments measure student progress and program effectiveness and help ensure that academic and enrichment activities are aligned with school district curriculum standards.

Volunteers through Temple University's Get SMART Program work with students to improve their writing skills. Get SMART volunteers assist after school students by increasing their communication skills through expressive writing techniques, and ultimately help improve their understanding of specific concepts. Expressive writing assignments include personal narratives, stories, poetry, songs and dramatic pieces. Children learn to convey their thoughts through writing, whether they are based on real or imagined events.

For approximately four weeks, VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America worker) volunteers visit with the youth to train them as stewards of the environment. Students learn about the recycling process and attain a holistic experience of what environmentalism is and why it is important. The training results in the creation of a recycling/waste reduction video, in which the students are frequently recorded during the implementation of the recycling project.

Once a month, various guest speakers visit the Washington Community Outreach Foundation to discuss various safety issues with the children. Topics related to personal safety, proper internet and technology use, drug & alcohol prevention, safe sex education, violence prevention and conflict resolution, are just to name a few. Guest speakers present safety topics through discussions, role-play exercises, songs, or drawings. Topics are age appropriate and presented to the children according to their developmental stage. Additionally, parents are encouraged to participate in these sessions to obtain information as well as to educate their children.

The 8 week summer camp program begins the first week of July and concludes the third week of August. Summer camp offers students constructive and leisure recreational activities, in arts and crafts, creative/performing arts, as well as weekly trips to aquariums, zoos, museums, nature tours, historical/amusement parks. Summer camp hours begin at 8 am and end at 5:30 pm, five days a week and occasional Saturday activities as well.