Four Seasons Secular Co-op (FSSC) is a secular (non-religious), pro-science, LGBTQIA+ inclusive, anti-racist, anti-ableist homeschool cooperative in Frederick, MD. To be a member of Four Seasons Secular Co-op you must authentically share and respect our values and principles. FSSC is a parent-run non-profit.
Our goal is to encourage lifelong learning and cultivate curiosity, empathy, respect, leadership, and communication skills in our students and member families. FSSC seeks to provide a safe and respectful family-centered community and support structure that celebrates diversity. We hope to empower families to work collectively to inspire children to become meaningful contributors to the global community. We believe in experiential learning, creativity, and exploration.
Four Seasons Secular Co-op is dedicated to fulfilling our mission by organizing cooperative classes, field trips, enrichment activities, special interest clubs, excursions, and social gatherings for both kids and caregivers.
FSSC started as a group of families with a passion for empowering our children and ourselves to continually learn and grow. We wanted to build a secular community that supported our desire to learn, connect, and reach out. We created a co-op that centered around our love of science, art, and the outdoors.
It was, and remains, crucial to us that our community is an actively safe space for homeschoolers of typically marginalized groups. To this extent, we designed a community of members that authentically share and respect founding values and principles found in our Mission Statement. Together we seek to continually grow as people and as a community.
FSSC meets outdoors year round. Our weekly meetings will be held outside, in park pavilions, with electricity and bathroom facilities. We will make every reasonable effort to make it outside in every type of weather unless safety is a concern.
This is a hands-on co-op. Caregivers must be present and assisting with activities. Caregivers can teach or assist in co-op classes (not necessarily the classes their kids are in) and/or help make the co-op day and semester run smoothly. In an effort to help make sure there is an equitable distribution of work, we require that members participate in a certain number of co-op tasks depending on the current needs of the co-op.
FSSC has two structured quarters in the fall and two structured quarters in the spring, for a total of four structured quarters. Specific dates are updated each year.
Wednesdays (Required):
9:45 at a park in a location central to Frederick, MD. Our
day is organized into three periods, starting at 10:00 and
ending around 12:45, with optional playtime afterwards.
Our class offerings and activities change depending on member families preferences and skillsets.
Fridays (Optional):
Fun Days! A rotating schedule of hikes, field trips, and
free play. Occasionally field trips are not on Fridays. We
try to start activities in the mornings (usually around 10)
and end based on activity. Exceptions may happen depending
on the activity. Fridays are made for flexibility and fun :)
Full freedom to choose which Fridays you attend.
Summer and Winter semesters are more flexible and will not have a structured class schedule. Our goal is to continue to meet on Wednesdays and Fridays. Attendance in these semesters is not required but is strongly encouraged when you can make it. We all understand the need for vacations and down-time, and these semesters are flexibly-scheduled to respect, encourage, and accommodate that. We love for members to show up as often as possible, so that we can maintain a thriving, dependable community. This is also a great time to deepen friendships since the pace is relaxed.
Activities for the summer usually revolve around water. Activities for the winter might be a hiking option or a library meet up. FSSC is completely run by the member families so our current offerings reflect our current member families and their interests. As we approach each of these flexible semesters, we check in with the families and build our calendar together.
The older kids (aged 12 and up) may have virtual meet ups during the summer and winter.
We are a group built on mutual respect and caring. Being in a community means taking care of our community members. Currently, masking at outdoor co-op is optional; however, masks are always welcome. If local metrics change, we will institute an appropriate mask policy that recognizes that kids rarely stay 6 feet apart from each other. Our priority is keeping our members safe and ensuring that kids can play safely together.
People with symptoms of infectious diseases, including COVID-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and gastrointestinal infections should stay home from co-op and get tested for COVID-19. People who are at risk for getting very sick with COVID-19 who test positive should consult with a healthcare provider right away for possible treatment, even if their symptoms are mild. Staying home when sick can lower the risk of spreading infectious diseases, including the virus that causes COVID-19, to other people.
As we have several members who are at risk for severe illness, we ask members to not attend co-op events until they have been fever-free or symptoms are improving for at least 5 days and/or have used an antigen test and tested negative before returning to co-op. This applies if any person in your household is diagnosed with COVID.
After reading about Four Seasons Secular Co-op, if you feel like you may have found your people, fill out the form below and we’ll get back to you with information on the membership process. We accept applicants who have a participating child 5 years old or older by September 1, 2026. Younger siblings are welcome to come and be part of the group as well. We are not accepting new families for Spring 2027. We will evaluate if FSSC has Fall 2027 openings sometime in late January/early February.
** Please note that we removed people from our interest list on September 1, 2026. If you did not request to stay on our list, you will need to complete a new information request form. **
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