BELL - Building Educated Leaders for Life

Complete listing at www.bellnational.org

BELL currently educates more than 8,000 scholars in 40 public school sites throughout Boston, New York City, Baltimore and Washington D.C. Our corps of educators includes more than 1,000 teachers and tutors

BELL was founded in 1992 by a group of Black and Latino students at Harvard Law. The students began a small tutoring program in a local school, where most children could not read, write or do math operations at grade-level proficiency. BELL evolved and complemented its BELL After School program with the BELL Summer program to achieve an even greater impact on children's lives.

BELL After School meets on weekdays for 2.5 hours per day at school-based sites. In the program, scholars receive a nutritious snack before certified teachers and highly trained university students deliver one hour of literacy tutoring to scholars in small groups.

BELL staff use a skills-based, multi-cultural curriculum to help scholars learn core reading and writing skills. Following literacy is forty minutes of homework help, with an emphasis on math. Scholar-choice enrichment completes the day, and includes activities such as art, drama, dance and physical education. Special activities such as guest speakers and cultural presentations contribute to scholars' healthy social development.

BELL recognizes that the pathway to opportunity for children lies in education. BELL transforms children into scholars and leaders through the delivery of nationally recognized, high-impact after school and summer educational programs. BELL sets high expectations for scholars and parents and has three major goals for scholars to achieve:  improve academic performance, improve self-concept, and develop positive social skills.