Washington, D.C
LIST: Free, engaging options in DC for your kids, families during Winter break
WASHINGTON, D.C. (7News) — Mayor Muriel Bowser, along with the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), is offering dozens of activities for kids and families during the 2024-2025 Winter break.
“These initiatives provide young people with safe and engaging activities from Dec. 21 through Dec. 31. While many events are designed for all age groups, DPR is also hosting specialized programming for teenagers, creating dedicated spaces for them to connect, socialize, and have fun,” the Mayor said in a press release.
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Here are a list of the activities:
Community Toy Giveaway: Toy distribution and cocoa for children in the community
- When: Saturday, Dec. 21, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
- Where: Fort Stevens Recreation Center, 1327 Van Buren Street, NW
Movie Field Trip: Sonic 3: Young people can enjoy a field trip to see Sonic 3, with multiple pickup locations
- When: Saturday, Dec. 21, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
- Register HERE
Grinchmas at Kenilworth: Join us for a community holiday Grinch-themed party
- When: Saturday, Dec. 21, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
- Where: Kenilworth Recreation Center, 4321 Ord Street, NE
Community Christmas Extravaganza: An event for the distribution of toys, hygiene products, coats, and used clothing to those in need
- When: Saturday, Dec. 21, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- Where: Rosedale Community Center, 1701 Gales Street, NE
Holiday Hype: A festive gathering at the MLK Library for all ages
- When: Saturday, Dec. 21, 2 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- Where: MLK Library, 901 G Street NW
- Register HERE
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Just Cares Toys for Tots Youth Basketball Tournament: This holiday basketball tournament and charity event will include Santa picture booth, entertainment, toy giveaways, and adult and kids basketball games!
- When: Sunday, Dec. 22, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- Where: Deanwood Community Center, 1350 49th Street, NE
Water Cycle and Aqua Fitness: Water-based activities and fitness sessions
- Where: Ferebee-Hope Aquatic Center, 700 Yuma Street SE
- Water Cycle: Dec. 24 and 26, 3 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
- Aqua Fitness: Dec. 24 and 26, 6 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.
eSports and Gaming Tournaments
- eSports Throwback & Brawlhalla Tournament: Columbia Heights Community Center, Dec. 23, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
- eSports 2K24 Tournament: Turkey Thicket Recreation Center, Dec. 26, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
- Winter E-Gaming Tournament: Hillcrest Recreation Center, Dec. 27, 2 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- eSports Madden Tournament: Deanwood Community Center, Dec. 27, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Holiday Drip: Celebrate the season with music and water-based fun
- When: Dec. 27, 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
- Where: Barry Farm Aquatic Center, 1230 Sumner Road SE
Holiday Sing-Along: Come out to sing your favorite holiday carols
- When: Monday, Dec. 30, 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
- Where: Kennedy Recreation Center, 1401 7th Street, NW
Holiday Movie Night: Come out to the Joseph Cole Recreation Center for a holiday movie
- Where: Joseph Cole Recreation Center, 1299 Neal Street, NE
- When: Monday, Dec. 23 and Dec. 30, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Teen Time: Teens will have the chance to play minute-to-win-it games, board games, art activities, and basketball!
- When: Friday, Dec. 27, 5 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- Where: Ridge Road Community Center, 830 Ridge Road, SE,
Teen Time: Teens will have the chance to play minute-to-win games, board games, art activities, and basketball!
- When: Monday, Dec. 23, Tuesday, Dec. 24, Monday, Dec. 30, and Tuesday, Dec. 31, 5 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- Where: Rosedale Community Center, 1701 Gales Street, NE
High School Lifeguard Training: Comprehensive lifeguard training for high school students at multiple locations
- Ballou HS Aquatic Center, 3401 4th Street SE: Dec. 22 – 24, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
- Dunbar HS Aquatic Center, 101 N Street NW: Dec. 26 – 28, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
- Roosevelt HS Aquatic Center, 4301 13th Street NW: Dec. 29 – 31, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
- Rumsey Aquatic Center, 635 North Carolina Avenue SE: Dec. 29 – 31, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Junior Lifeguard Academy: A training program for youth ages 9 to 15 interested in lifeguarding, with sessions offered at various aquatic centers
- When: Dec. 23 through 31
- Locations:
- Barry Farm Aquatic Center, 1230 Sumner Road SE: 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.
- Turkey Thicket Aquatic Center, 1100 Michigan Avenue NE: 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.
- Ferebee-Hope Aquatic Center, 700 Yuma Street SE: 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
- Deanwood Aquatic Center, 1350 49th Street NE: 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
- Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van Buren Street NW: 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
- Reservoir Park Aquatic Center, 10 Lower Service Court NW: 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.
Washington, D.C
Weekend weather in the DC Area: A little bit of everything
WASHINGTON (7News) — If you’ve got plans around D.C., Maryland, or Northern Virginia this weekend, you’ll want to stay flexible.
The forecast brings a mix of warm temperatures, sunshine, and a few rounds of showers and storms—especially Saturday and late Sunday.
Here’s a simple, hour-by-hour style breakdown so you can plan ahead.
Saturday: Warm Front, Clouds, and Spotty Storms
Morning (6 AM – 12 PM)
Mostly cloudy to start
A few early showers possible, especially toward the MD/PA border
Temperatures climbing through the 60s into the low 70s
What’s happening: A warm front is lifting north, bringing in milder air.
Afternoon (12 PM – 5 PM)
Highs reach the mid-70s
Clouds may break at times
Scattered showers and thunderstorms develop
Storm window: 2 PM – 7 PM
About a 50% chance of rain
Severe risk is low, but not zero
Possible:
Brief heavy downpours
Gusty winds
Maybe even small hail in isolated spots
Good news: Not everyone sees rain—but keep an eye on the sky.
Evening & Night (After 7 PM)
Storm chances linger early, then fade
Skies turn partly cloudy overnight
Lows drop to the mid-50s
Winds become light
Most of the night should be quiet and comfortable.
Sunday: The Pick of the Weekend
Morning
Dry and pleasant
A mix of sun and clouds early
Afternoon
Sunny and warmer
Highs in the low 80s
Light southwest breeze
This is your best outdoor day—great for parks, brunch, or yard work.
Sunday Night (After Midnight)
Clouds increase
Showers likely after midnight (70% chance)
Lows in the mid-50s
Winds shift from the north
Rain becomes more steady and widespread overnight
Looking Ahead (Late Sunday into Monday)
A cold front approaches from the northwest
Best chance for rain: Sunday night → Monday morning
Rainfall totals:
Generally 0.10″ to 0.25″
Locally higher in spots
Storms are possible, but:
Limited instability
Severe weather risk remains low
Weekend Planning Tips
Saturday:
Keep plans flexible—have a backup indoor option in the afternoon
Sunday:
Get outside early—it’s the best weather window
Sunday night:
Expect rain if you’re out late or traveling
The Big Picture
This weekend is part of a warming trend, with temperatures climbing from the 70s into the 80s. But with that warmth comes multiple chances for showers and storms, especially as weather fronts move through the region.
This weekend compared too next
Washington, D.C
Mom finds out daughter with autism was sexually abused at DC school week after it happened
CONTENT WARNING: This story contains content that may be uncomfortable to some readers. Discretion is advised.
WASHINGTON (7News) — A mother said she learned her 13-year-old daughter was sexually abused in a D.C. school when a detective contacted her a week after it happened. She said the school never notified her.
7News sat down with the mother on Friday, while her daughter was being evaluated and interviewed by detectives. We’re not sharing the mom’s identity to protect her daughter.
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The mom said she got a call Sunday night, “regarding my daughter and a sexual assault that happened at school involving my daughter last Monday.”
However, it didn’t come from the place or people she said she counted on.
“I never got a phone call from the school, an email, a text, nothing to say,” said the mom. Nothing happened until a week later.
That’s when a detective called and told her what happened.
“She was forced to give oral sex to a student in school,” said the mom.
Her 13-year-old daughter is disabled, autistic, and has challenges communicating.
The mom said she was sending her daughter to school without knowing what happened.
“I noticed a little behavior, emotional changes,” said the mom. “When I got that call now, it makes sense to, you know, what you because of what she had experienced at school and to come home and she didn’t say anything or no one had called me and just like it breaks my heart.”
7News obtained a copy of the police report, which confirms the youth investigative branch is investigating what happened to her daughter as sexual abuse. It shows that a Kelly Miller Middle School social worker reported it to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) last week.
“I just hope that I can be able to get her back on the right track. From all the trauma, on top of trauma,” said the mom. “To be able to grow and not have to hold that in the back of her head that she experienced in school, which should have been her safe place.”
7News started reaching out to DCPS just after 12:30 p.m. to ask if the students suspected of the abuse have been removed from the school, and why parents wouldn’t have been notified about the incident. They did not get back to us until after our first report aired. They did not answer either question. They provided the following statement.
A district spokesperson provided this statement:
At DC Public Schools (DCPS), student safety and wellbeing are paramount, and the district treats any allegation of sexual misconduct with the utmost seriousness. DCPS will continue to cooperate with law enforcement as this matter is investigated.
In accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and our obligation to maintain student confidentiality, we are unable to provide comment on individual student cases.
If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault or abuse, the National Sexual Assault Hotline can be accessed by calling 1-800-656-4673.
Washington, D.C
Canvas cyberattack leaves many DC-area school systems without service
WASHINGTON – A cyberattack on the Canvas learning management system left thousands of schools and universities offline Thursday, disrupting access to grades, assignments, course materials and lecture videos as students prepared for finals.
The hacking group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the breach, according to the Associated Press. Instructure, the company behind Canvas, did not immediately respond to questions about whether the system was taken down as a precaution or knocked offline, the AP reported.
READ MORE: Canvas outage impacts thousands of schools, universities: Hacker group reportedly takes credit
The hacking group posted online that nearly 9,000 schools worldwide were affected, with billions of private messages and other records accessed. Many school systems and universities in the Washington, D.C. region rely on Canvas as their primary learning management system.
In Montgomery County, school officials said access to the platform will remain unavailable “out of an abundance of caution” while they work to understand the impact of the incident and any potential vulnerabilities. Families were urged not to log in until MCPS and the myMCPS Classroom vendor resolve the issue.
The University of Maryland said it does not yet know when Canvas will return to service.
Canvas Cyberattack DC-Area School Systems Affected
Montgomery County Public Schools
Canvas (myMCPS Classroom) owned by Instructure Inc., is used by the school district as its learning management system. Due to a reported global cybersecurity concern involving Canvas, and impacting numerous school systems, universities, corporations in Maryland, other states, and worldwide, thus access to myMCPS Classroom has been disabled.
Out of an abundance of caution, access to the system will remain unavailable while we work to better understand the full impact of the incident and any potential vulnerabilities involving information connected to the platform. Please do not attempt to log in to the platform until MCPS and the myMCPS Classroom (Canvas) vendor have resolved this problem.
At this time, appropriate MCPS technology and security staff are continuing to assess the situation and coordinate with the vendor. We understand this disruption is frustrating and appreciate your patience as this work continues.
myMCPS Classroom provides access to student information such as grades, assignments, attendance, and course materials, and is an important tool for students and families to monitor academic progress. Additional information on how students can access resources and functions in myMCPS Classroom will be provided as soon as possible.
Updates will be shared as soon as additional information becomes available.
University of Maryland
Canvas may appear to be up right now, but please to not use it. DIT Security is not confident the system is safe to use right now. Please check back here before using Canvas.
For our faculty who use Canvas, we have created this guidance, and we will continue adding resources tomorrow. Please stay in touch with your students as we adapt to this evolving situation.
Prince George’s County Schools
There has been a cybersecurity incident involving Canvas, our Learning Management System.
Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, notified us of a global cybersecurity incident affecting 275 million users across numerous educational institutions. We have been informed that PGCPS was one of the many impacted organizations. While personal information including names, emails and Student IDs was impacted, NO sensitive information, such as dates of birth, passwords, financial information, was involved. PGCPS does not store that type of sensitive information or parent information in Canvas.
We are using this as an opportunity to reinforce the importance of exercising caution when communicating by email and remaining vigilant regarding suspicious messages, spam, phishing attempts, or other potentially fraudulent communications.
We will continue to monitor the situation and remain in close communication with Instructure.
Anne Arundel County Public Schools
Due to the ongoing issues with the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS), AACPS will operate schools on Friday, May 8, 2026, without the use of the LMS. The Virtual Academy will also remain open with altered instructional delivery that will also not use the LMS. Further instructions will be communicated from the school principal. The latest information regarding the breach and the status of school district operations can be found at www.aacps.org/canvasbreach.
Prince William County Public Schools
We are aware of the error appearing when accessing Canvas and are actively working with the vendor to resolve it. The issue is not just impacting PWCS, and is widespread and national in scope. We will provide updates when the vendor has resolved the issue.
The Source: Information in this article comes from the Associated Press and previous FOX 5 reporting.
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