Students spend more time out of school than they do in school. After school and summer programs play a critical role in helping all of Boston’s youth to realize their full potential. High quality programs can not only increase academic achievement, but also enhance self-esteem, leadership, and interpersonal skills. They also offer safe spaces, where young people can have positive interactions with peers and where supportive relationships with caring adults can flourish – both of which decrease risks of crime, substance abuse, and teen pregnancy.
Focus Areas
We are presently focusing our efforts on:
- Strengthening partnerships between Boston Public Schools and community organizations: To address the needs of the whole child, Boston Public Schools depend on a multitude of community partners. When the district has strong, well coordinated partnerships with community members, it is better positioned to help students make both achievement and youth development gains. In this area, Barr is particularly focused on supporting the redesign of after school and summer programming in Boston’s lowest performing schools.
- Creating a “No Wrong Door” system of coordinated programs: As a secondary focus, Barr is supporting efforts to help youth-serving organizations better coordinate with one another, so that youth who have become disengaged from education and career opportunities have “no wrong door.” No matter what organization youth first come in contact with, they can quickly and easily be linked to other organizations in the Boston network that best meet their interests and needs.
Desired Outcomes
Through our Out-of-School Time investments, Barr seeks to contribute to the following outcomes:
- Improved academic and youth developmental outcomes in Boston’s lowest performing schools
- Improved high school and college completion rates among youth who have disengaged from school
- Increased rates of sustainable employment among disconnected youth
Measures
To evaluate progress towards these outcomes, we pay attention to the following:
- Academic growth
- Improved socio-emotional well-being
- High school and college completion rates
- Job hire and retention rates
An Invitation
While Barr does not accept unsolicited grant proposals, we welcome new ideas for improving our strategies and advancing our goals. If you wish to share your insights, experience, and creative ideas, we invite you to e-mail us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).