Gum Springs Community Center Youth & Teen Programs

Gum Springs Community Center Youth & Teen Programs include an Afterschool Youth & Teen Program for students in grades 1–12, along with activities such as intramural sports, homework club, chess club, social clubs, and a fashion club. Participants can take part in creative arts, S.T.E.M., cooking and etiquette club, community gardening, and a variety of health and wellness activities. The program also offers youth employment opportunities, social-emotional learning, personal and professional development workshops, workforce development workshops, basic technology trainings, technology access, trips of necessities, and games such as billiards, table tennis, pickleball, cards, board games, and bingo, as well as art classes, knitting and crochet, and daily age-appropriate fitness classes like line dancing, yoga, strength training, and aerobics.

• Ages: 6–18 years old
• Schedule: Teen program hours Monday–Friday, 2–6 p.m.; community center open Monday–Friday with daytime and evening hours and on Saturday afternoons and evenings

Gum Springs Community Center Youth & Teen Programs take place in a facility that includes a multi-purpose room, community garden, computer lab, fitness center, music studio, game room, gymnasium, and the Gum Springs Museum & Cultural Center. Gum Springs is the oldest African American community in Fairfax County, having been officially established in 1833. The community center offers a community partnership garden for programming use, and center staff provide programming and opportunities for youth to develop skills, explore creative thinking, and emphasize community building. All NCS Community, Senior and Teen Centers, including this center, serve as warming and cooling centers during extreme weather, and visitors using the center for warming or cooling services do not have access to programming or classes unless they are current registered members. The division director is Chris Scales.

Last updated January 18, 2026.