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Neighborhood Science
This past summer, Orlando Science Center launched our Neighborhood Science program, which aims to bring consistent and engaging STEM education to low-income neighborhoods in Central Florida. We are currently operating this placebased program in two locations: the Grand Avenue Neighborhood Center in Holden Heights and the Jacqueline Bradley & Clarence Otis Family Branch Boys & Girls Club in West Lakes.
Grand Ave is a newly renovated facility that serves as a hub for more than 17 community centers across the city as a vital part of the City of Orlando’s Families, Parks, & Recreation Department. Thanks to generous funding from the Kiwanis Club of Orlando Foundation, Neighborhood Science programming began at Grand Ave in July 2022 with workshops four days a week for secondary students, exploring topics such as robotics, forensics, engineering, and space, among others. Afterschool programming for elementary students began in August and will continue to run four days a week through the end of the school year thanks to additional funding support. In July, we began developing a new “Artemis: Moon to Mars” program for students in Grades 4 and 5, which will launch in January, thanks to generous grant support from NASA.
Bradley-Otis is a state-of-the-art Boys & Girls Club, which opened its doors in April 2021 to provide students ages 6 - 18 a safe place for educational support and beyond. The Club serves over 200 youth from low-income households in the West Lakes neighborhood. We are currently running afterschool workshops twice a week for elementary students at Bradley-Otis with support from the DeVos Family Foundation. In addition to bringing the STEM topics of robotics, engineer, making and tinkering, and space to elementary students, we look forward to expanding programming to middle school programming thanks to additional grant funding from the Department of Navy (DON)/Office of Naval Research (ONR).
Engaging with our community goes beyond our building, but it also moves beyond the classroom. OSC was happy to participate in multiple family engagement events with the members of the Holden Heights neighborhood in 2022, including a Halloween event and two events around the December holiday season. We plan to participate in several similar family engagement events in West Lakes this spring. As we continue to build stronger relationships and provide consistent resources we make progress towards our goal of increasing interest and confidence in STEM.
Neighborhood Science made possible by generous support of donors and organizations who believe in our mission. Support for Neighborhood Science comes from Bank of America, City of Orlando, the DeVos Family Foundation, Disney, the Glenn W. Bailey Foundation, the LEGO Group, Kiwanis Club of Orlando Foundation, NASA, and ONR. OSC looks forward to the opportunity to continue supporting our community as we pursue our mission to inspire science learning for life for everyone, both inside and outside our walls. To learn more about this program, visit
