07/22/2026
Harvard's Graduate School of Education reviewed a decade of research on afterschool programs, and the findings support exactly what we see every day at iCook After School. 📚🍳
A few key takeaways from their research:
🧑🍳 Hands-on, project-based learning supports academic gains, and students who get to practice new skills experientially show measurable improvement in achievement, engagement, and homework completion.
🧑🍳Programs that pair academic support with enjoyable enrichment activities see the strongest results, kids learn best when they're also having fun!
🧑🍳Wellness matters too! Afterschool programs that build healthy habits around food and nutrition can meaningfully improve kids' choices, activity levels, and overall wellbeing.
This is the foundation iCook was built on. Every class blends hands-on cooking with nutrition education, teamwork, and confidence-building, because we believe the best learning happens when kids are actively doing, tasting, and creating!
Read the full research recap from Harvard here:
A decade of evaluation studies provide a basis to assess the educational potential of afterschool programs and to identify promising practices.
