Adult Ed in Cambridge – Adult Education Classes In and Near Cambridge

I’ve always loved to take classes and the myriad of excellent adult education opportunities in Cambridge and nearby towns is one of the reasons I love living in Massachusetts.  Whatever your interest you’re likely to find a course to take.  Classes are typically open to all, regardless of town or city of residence.  Many of the programs also have classes for kids or teens.

All of these programs publish printed catalogs each season and it’s worth picking up copies or asking for a copy to be mailed to you.  I’ve included the links to the organizations’ websites below but the printed catalogs are superior – you’ll find yourself highlighting classes, turning over page corners, and repeatedly discovering new intriguing choices as you flip through the pages.  Copies of the Cambridge, Boston, and Brookline adult ed catalogs can be often be found about town, sometimes in newspaper boxes, in local shops, and in libraries.  The Concord Public Library usually has a good collection of suburban adult ed catalogs for the taking.

Here are some of the best adult ed programs in the Cambridge / Boston area:

In Cambridge MA

The Cambridge Center for Adult Ed (CCAE) has been part of Cambridge for over 130 years, first as the Cambridge Social Union which was founded in 1876, and as the Cambridge Center for Adult Education since 1938. 

CCAE has a wide variety of course offerings – some that meet for a single session, others that run for weeks.  Need-based scholarships are available. Some of the course topics include:

• Languages
• Writing
• Business
• Film
• Photography & Video
• History & Contemporary Issues
• Homes and Gardens
• Food
• Work Life

Here’s a video about the Cambridge Center for Adult Ed:

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/714247[/vimeo]
 

In Boston MA

One of the best Adult Ed organizations, the Boston Center for Adult Education, recently moved its headquarters to 122 Arlington Street in downtown Boston from its old home by the Public Garden.  A rich variety of courses are offered with topics including:

• Creative Arts
• Performing Arts
• Professional Growth
• Real Estate & Finance
• Humanities & Science
• Foreign Languages & ESL

Adult Ed in Other Massachusetts Communities

Brookline Adult & Community Education is another superb local option for classes. Courses are offered in a wide variety of subjects including:

• Arts
• Health and Well Being
• Investment and Business
• Dance & Exercise
• Writing
• Music, Performance and Production

There’s also an excellent selection of lectures on Tuesday and Thursday evenings for $5 per lecture. Upcoming topics include:

• The Plight of the Butterfly
• Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands
• The Uncluttered Family
• A Glimpse Into the Current Housing Market

Concord-Carlisle Community Education offers a diverse selection of classes in Concord MA.  A sampling of courses from the spring catalog include:

• Meal Planning Without Tears
• Small Scale Agriculture – Raising Chickens
• Papermaking Workshop
• Organic Lawn Care
• Introduction to Kayaking
• Instant Piano for Busy People

Lexington Community Education has been offering excellent courses for years in Lexington, MA.  I took furniture refinishing there years ago and have been meaning to take their Furniture Upholstery class.  Other upcoming courses include:

• Coping With the Stress of Tough Economic Times
• In the Bin – Household Recycling Know How
• Probating Your Parents’ Estate
• Summertime Pilates
• Intro to Web Design

Newton Community Education has a wide variety of reasonably priced adult ed classes.  Some of the spring classes that caught my eye include:

• How to Be a Private Eye
• Totally Green Organic Bodycare
• How to Be a Landlord
• If Your Home is a Castle, Why Does Your Office Feel Like a Dungeon?
• Whitewater Kayaking

Learn a new skill, explore a new interest, discover more about your community. If you live in Cambridge or nearby there are endless opportunities in Massachusetts adult ed.

Categories: Living Here
Tags: Cambridge

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 at 5:36 pm and is filed under Living Here. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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