The City of Pittsburgh has announced that Recreation Centers will extend their hours on days when Pittsburgh Public Schools are closed or have early dismissal. The goal: to offer free childcare during hours that city kids would normally be in school.

The centers will open at 8 a.m. on full day closures and at 11:30 a.m. on early dismissal days (including tomorrow, Sept. 18). Lunch and snacks will be provided on full days and afternoon snacks will be served on early dismissal days at no charge. Special programming and partner visits on these days will be posted on CitiParks’ social media pages.

Although there is no cost, parents and other caregivers do need to register their child (or children) at the Recreation Center that they will attend. Learn more about the Recreation Centers and find your nearest location right here. You can register for several dates during this school year, including:

PPS Early Dismissal Days (Recreation Centers open at 11:30 a.m.): 

September 18
October 9
October 23
November 20
December 18
February 12
February 26
March 12

PPS School Closure Days (Recreation Centers open at 8 a.m.)

Sept. 21
Oct. 12 (High Schools & 6-12 schools)
Oct. 16 (Elementary, Middle & K-8 schools)
Nov. 3 (Election Day, only Ammon, Ormsby, Jefferson and Magee will be open. Other locations are polling places.)
Dec. 28, 29, 30, 31
Jan. 19
Jan. 20
March 10
March 22, 23, 24, 25, 26
May 18 (Election Day, only Ammon, Ormsby, Jefferson and Magee will be open. Other locations are polling places)

“We want every family to choose Pittsburgh first and our recreation centers provide incredible services and programming for our youth,” said Mayor Corey O’Connor in an announcement about the extended hours. “It’s important that our local families have free options for where kids can go on their days off school to play, discover and explore. Thank you to our CitiParks Office of Youth and Families and our recreation centers for extending this service.”

Another possibility for families: Later this fall, The Frick Pittsburgh will be offering creative workshops on some of the days when PPS has early dismissal or will be closed. These hands-on workshops are for students in grades 2-5, who can explore art and history through the Frick’s collections while developing their own art skills across creative mediums with teaching artists.

Kids can expect to go home with two to five finished works of art, depending on the particular workshop and their own creative pace.

These are happening on Nov. 3 (a full-day Sculpture Workshop) and on Nov. 20 (a half-day Printmaking Workshop). Learn more about the workshops and the cost here.